The New Types of the Far East
by Shadow Labrys
Summary: The first ever New Type God Eater, Claire, soon meets with another. Being the only New Type, she decides to befriend the new recruit. While trying to get to know her, she soon finds out that she has something in common with her. (FemPro x Alisa) Yuri.
1. CH 1: The New Recruit Alisa

**AN: By the way, I'm relatively new to the God Eater series and it's pretty damn fun. With God Eater 2 coming out later tonight, in like five hours. So I decided why not do a story for this series.**

* * *

A girl lazily laid on her bed, with nothing do but think. She let out a bored sigh before she sat up. "Why does everyone have such high hopes that I'm going to be such an exceptional God Eater? I mean, I am good, like really good, but still. I'm just a recruit who's still new to this whole God Eater thing," For some reason, two words stuck with her not leaving mind, and at the same time, they were the only things she could think of. _'Recruit...? New...? New recruit...? New recruit... Ah, crap...'_ She repeated to herself before the sudden realization. She quickly hopped off her bed and rushed over to the other side of the room. She grabbed her navy coloured vest and fixed up her boots and hair before she rushed out the door.

* * *

The elevator door opened and she found everyone sitting around on the couch. She walked over to them feeling a little tired. "Someone finally decided to show up," Sakuya said.

"Sorry, I'm late." She said as sat down to the right of Lindow. "So, who's the new recruit?"

"Don't know yet," Lindow said.

"They haven't arrived yet?"

"No, not yet," Sakuya said.

"Oh..." Claire crossed her arms as she closed her eyes.

"Uh, Claire? What are you doing?" Kota said.

"I'm still a little tired, so I'm going to take a little nap. Wake me up when they get here." Everyone waited patiently for the new recruit and it wasn't long until they heard other God Eaters talking about rumours of the New-Type God Eater that was soon to arrive. Everyone heard footsteps from downstairs walking up to them. The footsteps revealed to be Tsubaki and the new recruit. Everyone, but Claire, stood up as Tsubaki was ready to introduce the new recruit.

"Good day, squad. I'd like to introduce someone. Another New-Type God Eater will be joining your squad as of today."

"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Alisa Ilinichina Amiella. I've been transferred here from the Russia Branch. I will do my best to continue to serve with distinction. I hope we work well together."

"Yes! We always have room for another hottie." Kota said excitedly.

Alisa looked at Kota with slight disgust on her face. "Is he serious? The fact that you survived long enough to be a God Eater is astounding."

"Whaa?" Kota said not really believing the harsh words he heard.

"She doesn't have any battle experience you do, but her scores in the simulation are beyond anything recorded. Better hone your skills."

"Yes, ma'am. Of course. Sorry." Kota said.

"Alisa, you'll be serving under Lindow, a talented God Eater, and a good commander."

"As you wish, Ma'am."

"Actually, I have some documents that need your signature. Why don't you come with me." Tsubaki said to Lindow who just nodded. "The rest of you, make Alisa feel at home..." She looked over at the sleeping recruit and sighed a little bit. "And would somebody wake her up. Dismissed."

Everyone turned over to Claire who was still sleeping while Sakuya nudged her shoulder to try and wake her up. She began to wake up as she lifted her head up and looked at everyone. She let out a yawn before she stood up and walked over to everyone, but for some unknown reason, her heart skipped a beat when she saw the new recruit but she justed shrugged it off and went to greet her. "Are you the new recruit?" Claire asked.

"Yes, the name's Alisa Ilinichina Amiella. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Cool! I'm Claire. I'm also..." Claire paused for a second before she looked over to Sakuya. "Hey? Am I still a new recruit even if I've been here for a few weeks?"

Sakuya just shrugged and Claire turned back to the new recruit. "Whatever... I'm a new recruit who started a few weeks ago, and I'm, supposedly, the first New-Type God Eater."

"I hope we work well together."

"Yes, I hope we do," Claire smiled before she realized something. "I know this question will be asked eventually. I don't have a last name."

"There she goes again," Sakuya said.

"Sakuya! Be quiet." Claire whispered.

"You don't? Mind if I ask why?" Alisa asked.

"I never knew my family. Died when I was young. I think I was eight or seven when it happened."

"You lost your family? Why are you talking about it so casually? Isn't it a painful memory?" Alisa asked.

"It should be, but it isn't. I probably blocked that memory from my mind, but all I know is that they were killed by an Aragami." Claire was silent as she let the information sink in on everyone. "Welp, that was the past, we need to move forward. Do you know where everything is?"

"...Y-Yes, I do."

"Okay, cool."

* * *

A day later all the new recruits headed over to listen to Dr. Paylor lectures about Aragami. Kota sat in his usual spot and Claire sat next to him while Alisa sat on the other side of the room. "Picking up from last time, we were talking about Oracle Cells, yes? They makeup Aragami and eat anything. And I mean anything. They eat life-forms, flora, and fauna, as well as synthetic creations, resins... plastics, for instance. It has even been reported that they consume toxic waste, which will actively destroy any other life form. They never tire. Buildings, the earth itself. See, this is the end result." Dr. Paylor turned to the screen next to him and a picture showed how the earth currently looks like. "The environment as we know it. The 'leftovers', is diminishing at an unsustainable rapid pace." Once again the image changed from the destroyed world to beautiful trees in different colours. "People once gathered here to view cherry blossoms in the spring. To watch leaves array in gold and red when autumn came." The screen became black as he finished showing examples of the old world. "Now, only memories. Preserved in pictures and first-hand accounts. And the Aragami, they begin to take on qualities of the things they consume, gaining new abilities. Recently we discovered a few Aragami that been photosynthesizing. It's a wonder."

 _'So that's how we're still breathing.'_ Claire thought as she had been listening to the lecture intently.

"The composition of our air remains as it always was. 79% nitrogen, 21% oxygen." Dr. Paylor said as he slowly made his over to Kota after realizing he was asleep which was no surprise. "Despite the decimation of our trees and plants over the last 20 odd years, nearly 70% now gone, we have maintained the air. It's ironic. We hunt the Aragami and they hunt us, yet it is due to their photosynthesis that we can still breathe." Dr. Paylor tapped Kota on his head as he explained the lecture.

"... No, mom, earmuffs don't go on the cookie..." Kota mumbled in his sleep.

Alisa let out an annoyed sigh once she seen Kota was asleep this whole time. "Really? Does he not understand how important this is?"

"He merely is Kota. Tell me, have either of you heard the term, 'Nova's Devouring Apocalypse'?" Dr. Paylor asked.

Claire shook her head, but Alisa nodded. "Yes... It will theoretically come into being through Aragami fighting each other. Humanity's extinction is triggered by Nova, an Aragami grown so massive and so powerful that it literally Devours the world." Alisa finished explaining and Kota woke up after hearing what everyone was talking about.

"Precisely. Now, we have no confident source for the origin of this theory. And many people have dismissed it as a superstitious rumour."

"But, but when the Aegis Project is complete that'll project is all, right? Even from that." Kota said.

"Would anything we make be able to stop something like that?" Claire asked.

Dr. Paylor was quiet as they both asked their questions. "Hm... do you know what a dog is?" Dr. Paylor asked as he ignored their questions or like if they didn't ask it at all.

"Y-You didn't answer our..." Claire tried to get back to their questions, but the doctor continued with what he was talking about.

"Yes, Canis lupus familiarus. Even now their numbers are fading, but they can still be seen around the Outer Ghetto. Dogs are intelligent. No, they cannot speak, but they have a natural, almost innate form of communication with other species. Like us. Now, if an Aragami were to take on these sort of qualities, would that Aragami then be able to co-exist with us?"

"Co-exist?" Alisa said like that was an impossible thing to happen.

"Of course, dogs are not the only animals that possess this sort of ingrown communication. I read once about an animal tamer who used to communicate with all kinds of creatures in some striped tent or something. Haha..."

"It's not possible. Humans and Aragami cannot live together. Simple fact." Alisa said.

"I don't know... maybe they can," Claire said.

"Oh?" Dr. Paylor started to get interested in wondering what she could mean. "Continue."

"I don't know, maybe they can co-exist with us. Oh, wait, but wouldn't that mean they would have to eat quite a few humans first for that to happen?"

"Hmm... I think this is a good place to end it here." Claire found the doctor's behaviour a little strange, but she shrugged it off as the way the doctor acts.

* * *

Claire pressed the button for the elevator and waited with the other two. She suddenly remembered that she has a mission later today and she decided to ask Alisa. "Hey, Alisa?"

"Yes?"

"I have a mission later today. Do you want to come?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm very busy right now."

"Oh... That's too bad..." Claire said a little disappointed. "Hey, Kota! Wanna go on a mission together?"

"Sure! Sounds like fun! I need something to do after that lecture."

"Cool! And after we come back let's watch some Bugarally."

"Sweet! Sounds like a plan!"


	2. CH 2: A Mission with the New Type

In the Wailing Plains, Claire charged forward towards the last remaining Aragami in the area while Kota gave her covering fire. The Kongou lifted it's fists up and tried to slam them down on top of Claire. She ended up dodging it just in time. She quickly turned around and dashed towards it and gave it an upwards slash which ended up finishing it off.

"Oh yeah! Another completed mission! We're unstoppable when we're together!" Kota cheered.

"Yeah, we are!" Claire turned back to the Aragami and lifted up her God Arc. Her God Arc began to devour and rip out its core.

"Anything good?" Kota asked.

"No, nothing I don't already have."

"Well, let's get back safely, we got some Bugarally to watch."

As they waited to be picked up they sat around silently and watching their surroundings in case more of them show up. Claire suddenly remembered a message she received not too long ago. "Oh, yeah. I just remembered something."

"Hm? What's that?"

"Alisa wanted me to talk to you about your attitude."

"What?! I didn't-" Kota was about to say something, but Claire cut him off.

"There. We talked about it."

"What?"

"Hey, she said talk about it, but she didn't say anything about fixing it."

"You know, you're a weird one."

"I've been told, yes."

* * *

 _ **Next Day**_

Once they arrived at the City of Mercy, Alisa and Claire waited for Lindow to arrived. They both stood there in silence. Alisa decided to ask the question on her mind since the day she met her. "Hey?"

"Yeah?"

"So... you... you don't have any family left?"

"No, I don't have any blood family. Why do you ask?"

"I just... I just wanted to get to know you better... and to know why you're not like me..." Alisa muttered that last part.

"Hm? What did you say? I couldn't hear you."

"I said, so you don't know your last name?"

"Nope... I mean, I have had people say what I think is my last name. So I guess I do have now that I think about it. I don't know if its right or not, but, hey, at least I have."

"Why are you so open to me?"

"Because I consider you to be a close friend."

"Close friend? We don't even know each other that well."

"Well then, let's start getting to know each other. I'm always happy to make a new friend. Me, being the only New Type, I was kinda lonely. When I found out you were a New Type, I thought, I'm going to become her friend. Is there anything you want to know about me? Do you want to know what they say my last name is?"

"Yes, it's kind of bugging me."

"Well, that's too bad. I ain't telling."

"What? Why not?"

"I already told you quite a bit stuff about me already. Now, it's your turn." They were both quiet for a while before Claire spoke up again. "How about this. Why don't we make a contest?"

"Contest? For what?"

"We just go on a simple mission. Nothing too hard. If you kill the most Aragami, I'll tell you my last name. But, if I win, you have to tell me about you. Deal?"

"That sounds pretty stupid just to know someone's last name."

"Oh, you don't want to? That's too bad... well, if you're desperate enough to know my last name, the offer still stands." Shortly after finishing their conversation, Lindow finally arrived.

"Looks like I get the pleasure of working with both New Types. I'll try not to get in the way." Lindow let out a chuckle.

"It isn't getting in the way. You should just stick to what Old-Types do best. You are our support."

"Support? But... he's better than the both of us." Claire muttered to herself.

"Hoho! Well, then... I guess I'll do my best to live up to your high, high expectations of me." Lindow said as he walked up to Alisa and placed a hand on her shoulder. Alisa's eyes widen in shock like something and she jumped back from him.

"Whoa, okay... You don't really like me, huh? That's fine. I'll grow on you."

"No, it's... I-I'm sorry... it's nothing. I'm fine." Alisa tried to explain, but ended stopping since she didn't really know what happened either.

' _I guess not all the ladies like Lindow, haha... I gotta stop joking around. But, seriously, that was pretty strange. Either she likes her personal space o_ _r_ _something happened between them that I don't know about.'_ Claire thought.

"Hehehe, I was just kidding. Just a joke. Hey, I want you to try something Alisa. It might help. When things get crazy or chaotic, I want you to look up in the sky and find a cloud that looks like an animal, okay? It'll help you relax. You know what? Try it right now. That's an order. Once you do, come find us. We'll be just over there."

"But... Why would I do that? It's pointless."

"Just look for a cloud, okay? Trust me. We're just going to be over until you do." Lindow and Claire left Alisa to her cloud finding as they both went up ahead.

* * *

After walking for a few seconds, Lindow waited until he was at the right distance so Alisa wouldn't hear them. "So here's the deal. That kid's got some... unique baggage. Sort like you, in a way, but you know... different."

"Like me?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

Claire wondered what he was talking about until it finally dawned on her. "...Oh."

"Finally figured it, huh?" Lindow said as he stopped and turned to her.

"Yeah, the sad truth about this world. There a lot of kids who lost their parents. It's such a common thing nowadays."

"Yeah..." Lindow said. "Well, anyway, I wanted to ask you since you're a New Type. Well, can you keep an eye out for her?"

"Sure."

"Good, thanks. Come on, then."

"Hey, does that actually work?"

"What does what work?"

"You know, the cloud thing."

"Yeah. What you never tried it?"

"No."

"Well, you should."

"I guess I will." With the conversation done, they waited for Alisa to arrive before they continued with the mission. It wasn't long until they heard the sound of dropping from somewhere high. Claire turned around and smiled since she can now continue with the mission.

"Hey, Alisa. Did that actually work?"

"What did what work?"

"You know, the cloud thing."

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because you did seem kinda annoyed that you had to look for one."

"I don't know, I guess."

"Hmm... maybe, it's not the actual cloud, but how long it takes to look for one."

"Maybe it is. Come on, we wasted enough time already." Lindow said.

* * *

Claire carefully watched the last remaining Chi-You's movements. The Chi-You charged forward and Claire jumped over its spin kick and slashed it across the face. Lindow and Alisa took the chance and finished it off. "Yeah! That's what you get for taunting me!" Claire said.

"You two did well out here!" Lindow said.

"We were so awesome! We're like an unstoppable team!"

"Mission Complete! We are heading home." Alisa said.

"Man, we are good! Nothing can beat us! Not even that Ouroboros can stop us!"

"Whoa! Hey, there! I can agree we're a pretty damn good team, but something like that. We aren't ready for it yet." Lindow said.

"I was only joking. I don't want to die yet." Claire said. "I think I deserve a prize. Since I did take one out by myself."

"If I remember correctly, I heard you calling out for help after engaging it in by yourself which I had to come and save you," Alisa said.

"What? I don't know what you are talking about."

"You did do well out here. But, not good enough for some type reward."

"What? Did you see my skill?"

"Besides, If anyone deserves a reward is me! If I wasn't out there with you two, it would've been a lot harder."

"Okay, okay. I do admit that it would've been hard without you here."

"Come on, you two! The Chopper's going to be here any minute!"

"Let's get going. Don't wanna die out here, do you?" Lindow said.

"What kinda question is that? No! Of course not!" Claire said as she rushed over to Alisa with Lindow right behind her.

* * *

 _ **Next Day**_

Alisa on the terminal checking her item storage, but for some reason, not learning Claire's last name is really bugging her. "Why's this bugging me so much. Normally I wouldn't care because if they wanted to keep to themselves, that's fine. But... Why do I want to know her last name so much?" Alisa closed the terminal finally fed up with it. She left her room and made her way over to Claire's room. She knocked on the door and waited for her to answer. The door opened and she was greeted by Claire.

"Yes? Oh! Alisa! Did you need something?"

"I decided to take you up on your stupid offer."

"My what?" Claire wondered what she was talking about, but it suddenly came back to her. "Oh! Okay. I didn't think I would go on a mission today. Okay, let's go!" Claire said as she rushed to the elevator.

Once they reached the Entrance, Claire strolled down to Hibari. Once Hibari noticed Claire, she smiled at her. "Hello, Claire. Want a mission?"

"Yes, please."

"Which one?"

"First Frost."

"Okay, is there anyone who's going to accompany you on this mission?"

"Yes, Alisa's coming with me."

"Alright, registered. We're ready whenever you are."

"Great!" Claire walked over to the Shopkeeper with Alisa watching from up the stairs. "Some of your finest recovery pills."

"On it!"

"That's all you're getting?"

"That's all I'm lacking right now," Claire said as she paid the Shopkeeper.

* * *

Once they arrived at the mission area, Claire ran up ahead leaving Alisa behind. Alisa groaned as she chased after her, but it turned out to be quite difficult. She quite fast which she didn't expect. Eventually, she caught to her and found her sitting next to a ledge with her God Arc resting right next. She soon heard humming coming from somewhere, she quickly realized it came from her radio. She watched as Claire raised her radio to her ear. "Hibari. Your mic is on again."

"Wah!? Please forget about that!"

"Haha, sure."

"Hey! You idiot!"

"Huh?" Claire looked back towards the direction of the voice.

"Why did you run up ahead? You know, how danger it is going by yourself?"

"I'm sorry. But I decided to scout ahead. Like the mission details said. There are four Zygotes, but as I was leaving another one showed up. That means if you kill three, you win."

"That seems pretty unfair."

"Why would it be unfair?"

"Because you know where they are."

"Yeah, but that's was like ten minutes ago when I scouted." Claire grabbed her God Arc and hopped down. Alisa sighed as she followed her. Claire turned towards Alisa before she smiled and waved as she took off. Alisa decided to go the other direction. Once Alisa reached the top of some stairs she ran into two Zygotes. She took a battle stance once they noticed her. One of the Zygotes charged forward and Alisa dodged just in time. She jumped at it and swung her God Arc at it with all her might forcing the Aragami to crash to the ground. She glanced to the side and quickly lifted up her shield in time to block most of the damage from the other Aragami. She switched her God Arc to its gun form and fired a barrage of bullets at it. She noticed it started to get weak so she rushed towards it before she jumped up and slashed at it three times before bringing it down. She jumped back once she noticed the other Aragami that she stunned before had recovered. Before it could attack again, Alisa charged in and slashed at it until it died. Once the battle was finished, Alisa lifted up her God Arc and began to devour the Aragami.

"Well, I only need to kill one more than I win." She turned around and began her search for the one more Aragami. She soon reached the spot near the temple carefully looking around making sure no Aragami try to ambush her. She gasped when suddenly a Zygote appeared out of the corner. She switched to gun form ready to attack. She was about to pull the trigger is she noticed wounds covering its body.

"Don't tell me she's already..." Before Alisa could finish her sentence Claire came out of the corner with her God Arc raised above her head. Before Alisa could react Claire slashed at the Zygote and killed it. She began to devour the Aragami before turning to Alisa.

"Enemy defeated! Mission complete!" Hibari said over the radio.

"Hey, Alisa! Looks like I win!" Claire waved as she walked over to her. "Looks like my few weeks of experience showed."

"Yeah, whatever. Let's just call the chopper and go home."

"So? You going to tell me about you?"

Alisa sighed, not really wanting to reveal such things to someone she just met. "I guess a deal is a deal. What do you want to know about?"

"Hmm... how about before you became a God Eater? Like what you did before becoming one?"

"Nothing. There's not much to tell. I spent most of my time hospitalized."

"Hospitalized? What happened that made you be hospitalized?"

"I... I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, okay..." Claire and Alisa remained quiet as an uncomfortable air between them. Claire began to try and think of anything that might change the subject or at least, make it less uncomfortable. She looked at Alisa trying to think as she looked up and down her body before her eyes fell onto her hair. _'Maybe that will work? Only one way to know.'_ Claire thought.

Once they stopped and waited for the chopper to pick them up. She watched as Alisa sat down on the ground. She walked over to her and sat down next to her. She looked at her before looking back. Alisa wondered what she was doing since she was acting a little strange. Claire turned to Alisa before she lifted some of her hair. "You know, I like your hair."

"What?" Alisa said, a little confused since she didn't expect to have someone compliment her so suddenly and out of nowhere.

"I said, I like your hair. It's... unique. It reminds me of someone I know."

"Someone, you know? Who's that?"

' _Well,_ _she_ _did tell me about_ _herself_ _despite it now being much.'_ Claire thought. "My sister."

"Your sister? I thought you said you didn't have any family."

"I didn't have any blood family. She's not really my sister. We've been together since we were kids. She lost her parents in the same attack. After I learned that when I got older I decided to watch after her. She really looks up to me... I really need to visit her again."

"You're very open about this. Why?"

"Because, like I said before, you're my friend."

"Friend? Why are you so adamant about being friends with me?"

"Because you're a New Type, I'm a New Type. As far as I know, we're the only New Types on this planet right now. We New Types got to stick together. Also, you should have seen what I did before becoming a God Eater. I had no time to make friends because I was so busy."

"What were you doing?"

"I was taking care of my 'sister', her name's Iris, by the way. She told me that her parents named her after a flower that used to grow before the Aragami."

"Maybe we should stop. The chopper's going to arrive soon."

"Yeah, I guess so." Claire agreed. "Let's do this again, it was fun!"

"Yeah, I guess we could do this again."

* * *

 **AN: I don't know how far I'm going to go with this story, maybe up till the Hannibal story. By the way, if I skip any part of the God Eater story I'll let you know at the very beginning of the next chapter. I hate story mission 99 so much, or is it story mission 100? Ah, whatever. That was the hardest fight I ever had in that game. I still can't believe I beat that damn Aragami and that was a couple of weeks ago. I was the last one standing with no health items. It almost forced me to bring in the right equipment.**


	3. CH 3: Resonance: Alisa

**AN: You know, I'm going to be honest. I didn't think you people would like this. Well, I hope you enjoy this, and if you have any questions, ask away. The Moon in the Welkin mission has already happened.**

* * *

Claire sat down next the vending machine on the rookie's section completely worried for her friend who was currently in the infirmary. She crushed the empty soda can in her hand in frustration. She let the can drop to the floor as she sighed. She tried to figure out what she could do for Alisa, but no matter how much time she spends trying to think of a salutation nothing comes to mind. She hated that feeling when she can't do anything for her friends, it only ended up frustrating her even more.

Kota walked out of his room and made his way to the elevator. He came to stop when he noticed the distressed looked on Claire's face. "Hey... you okay?"

"Do I look okay?"

"N-No... I'm sorry."

"So... what do you want?"

"I just wanted to know how you were doing."

"Not great, as you can tell." Claire picked up the can and threw it into the garbage. "I don't know what to do. Something's wrong with Alisa and I can't figure out how to help."

"You really care about her, huh?"

"I guess... probably because I know how it is without parents. It's pretty tough, Kota, it's pretty tough. I also promised Lindow I would look out for her... and I'm currently failing at keeping that promise."

"You're not failing. How could you guess something like that would happen."

"Yeah... maybe you're right. But that doesn't change the fact I can't do anything for her."

"Hmm, uh..." Kota tried to think of something to help Claire at least cheer up a little. He suddenly remembered what Hibari told him about Alisa. "Hey, I just remembered something."

"Hmm...?"

"If I remember right, Hibari told me that Alisa can have visitors now. Why don't you go visit her?"

"I guess I could. It's probably all I can do for her." Claire sighed as she stood up and called the elevator. "Thank you."

"Huh?" Kota got a little confused why Claire suddenly thanked him.

Claire looked over her shoulder. "Thank you, for trying to cheer me up. I really appreciate it."

"Oh, no problem. Always happy to help."

* * *

Claire sat by the bed Alisa's resting and she was accompanied by the recently transferred doctor. Claire watched over Alisa with such a worried and sad expression. "There's no use talking to her when she's like this. The tranquillizers I have are very effective. She'll be unconscious for hours." Dr. Oguruma said.

Claire looked at the doctor before looking back at Alisa. She reached out and placed her hand on top of Alisa's. Suddenly, a series of images flashed before her eyes. Alisa gasped as she woke up after Claire experienced that strange event. "Wh-Where am I? Why am I... so..."

"What?!" Dr. Oguruma said in complete surprise. "No, no, no... How could she have regained consciousness? That's- No. There's no way... I'm sorry, I have to make a record of this." He said as he quickly rushed out the door.

"Just now... Just a moment ago, you..." Claire lifted her hand up and stared at it wondering what could have caused those images to appear in the first place. She looked back at Alisa who seemed to have fallen back to sleep.

"I'll come back again," Claire said to her before Dr. Oguruma returned.

* * *

 _ **Next Day**_

Lucky for her, Claire was able to visit Alisa, without Oguruma this time, before she had to head out on another mission. Claire looked at her hand once again as she recalled what happened last time. "Will it happen again?" Claire said to herself. She looked at Alisa before looking at her hand again. She once again placed her hand on top of hers and like she guessed, it worked. But, instead of images, a full on scene played out.

* * *

 _She heard voices that repeated "Ready or not..." "Here we come..." it looked like she was inside some cabinet. She watched as two adults came into view, it looked like they were searching for someone. Soon they two adults turned around and panicked a little when suddenly black and_ gray _Aragami appeared and attacked the two. She heard a voice that started screaming for it to stop which she assumed it was Alisa._

 _The scene changed to Alisa taking part of the painful procedure that every God Eater has to do to become one. The voice of the director of the Far East Branch echoed out in the room. "So young... Defenceless... How you must have cursed your powerlessness..." The machine closed down on Alisa's arm and locking the armlet to her while the God Arc she was holding jabbed into her armlet to see if she was compatible. "Now overcome the anguish. Push past it into fury, and you can avenge them... All of them... There. Fight, Alisa! Rise above it! Yes, the potential!" The scene ended with Alisa screaming out in pain._

 _The scene changed once again and this time, she's in an infirmary with her doctor. The doctor was teaching her that the Aragami was her enemy. "These are your enemies. The ones that hurt you, Alisa. The Aragami exist only to hunt, only to kill."_

 _"Aragami... only to kill..." Alisa repeated what he said._

 _He showed her several images of different types of Aragami. "Yes, Alisa. Only to kill. They will rip away from you, make you suffer. And this is the one you must make an end of. This is the one..." Suddenly the images of the Aragami changed to a picture of Lindow. "The Aragami that killed your family. The one that devoured your mother and father."_

 _"Papa... Mama..."_

 _"You're stronger now. Strong enough to fight. To kill on your own. It's easy, taking a life. Just aim your God Arc and pull the trigger..."_

 _"Pull... Pull the trigger..." Alisa once again repeated his words._

 _"This will keep you safe. Repeat these words as you pull that trigger, Alisa. Odin... Dva... Tri..."_

 _"Odin... Dva... Tri..."_

 _"Yes, perfect. Remember them, keep them close. They will keep you strong and safe."_

 _"Odin... Dva... Tri..." The scene ended with Alisa repeating those three words._

* * *

Claire blinked as she looked around and found that she was back in the infirmary with Alisa who has woken up. Alisa sat up and looked around confused before eyes stopped once she noticed Claire was with her. "What... What happened?" She calmed down a little before she spoke again. "I felt it... Like being inside your skin... Thoughts and emotions that weren't mine... Did it... happen to you too? Did you see?"

"...Yes."

"I'd forgotten that day... I pushed it down so deep that even I couldn't find the memory..." Alisa looked down with sad expression. "My papa and my mommy... We were playing hide and seek, and I thought I'd be clever. I went to hide in the nearby building. They kept calling, 'Ready or not, here we come.' 'Ready or not...' Then, everything changed. In a moment there were screams, voices, all shouting that an Aragami had broken through!" Claire noticed Alisa's voice was starting to falter as she explained what happened. "I should've rushed out, showed where I was, but... but I was scared. I... I was so frightened. Papa and Mama came to look for me. They ran out to find me in the buildings, but... There was this horrible guttural sound, then it lashed out... It didn't even pause, just took them..." Claire put a comforting hand on top of hers to help calm her down. "If I'd known, I would've... I would've run and we, and we could've run... We should've run... I did it... I let them die..."

"No, don't beat yourself up over it. You were just scared."

Alisa just looked away before she continued. "When I was told I might become a God Eater... that I might be one of the New Types... I was so happy and so furious... At that moment I thought I could get revenge. I could kill that wretched monster. I could avenge my parents... even a little bit. It won't bring them back, but..." Alisa gripped her in head pain as an image of Lindow and that Aragami flashed before her. Claire quickly stood up and did the only thing she knew how to comfort someone. She wrapped her arms around and hugged her. "I-I'm sorry... I don't know what's happening..."

After a while when Alisa calmed down, she spoke up. "You did this before? With that girl?"

"Girl?"

"The one with the purple hair."

Claire wondered how she knew that but she realized it was most likely the same thing that happened to her. "Yes... whenever she was scared I would always hug her until she calmed down." They both remained like that quiet for a while. Claire eventually lets go of Alisa and sat back down. She placed her hand on top of Alisa's once again and she stared at it as recalled that feeling from before.

"I've felt that hand before... The way you're holding it. You did the same thing the other day, didn't you? I'm sure of it. I could feel the warmth flowing through me... Memories I didn't have, just like before. Memories of... happiness. All of them involving that girl."

"Yes. I would probably be a completely different person than the one you're talking to right now if I didn't meet her."

"You really care about her, don't you?"

"Yeah... hey? Why don't you recall few memories for me?"

"Huh?"

"Tell me a couple memories of her? I can't remember everything."

"S-Sure... I think this one is when the first time you met her."

"Oh? Care to explain?"

"At first, you followed her, I think to talk to her. You ended up talking to her for hours, but was a little nervous."

"Yeah, I think I was ten or eleven in the morning when first met her. At the time there wasn't an orphanage because most kids had their parents or they-... yeah. I think the only orphans at the time were just me and her. I did have my own place to stay so I invited her to stay with me since I knew the pain of losing a parent. I didn't want her to be lonely. At first, she didn't really talk to me, but after a while, I was able to get her to open up to me." Claire chuckled at the memory. "When she finally decided to talk with me, she was really shy and nervous. I tried to care for her, like with cooking whatever I could and cleaning the place. Lucky, I had help from my neighbours. She didn't really like going out, she would always spend her time reading or helping me with the chores. Eventually, as I spent more and more time with her, I started to consider her be my little sister. I think if I remember right it, it made her really happy to hear that."

"How is she now?"

"She's doing great! She has gotten over her shyness. Though as I far as I know she still hasn't made any friends."

"It must be nice to have someone to care about."

"Yeah, it is. Hey, why don't you tell me one more memory?"

"Okay... uh... Osada."

"What?"

"Your last name."

"Oh... I didn't think that was going to be a memory you were going to see."

"They said your last name was Osada, right?"

"Yeah, that's what they said," Claire said. "Actually, I knew my last name the whole time."

"You did? Why did you say you didn't then?"

"I like to say that to see what type of reaction I get. It's sorta fun, and it helps me find friends. It works most of the time. I mean look at Kota and Sakuya. They're both my friends."

"Oh,"

"Oh, and we're starting to become friends too... I mean, I hope we're becoming friends." Claire gasped once she realized something, she quickly looked at the time. She quickly stood up and Alisa looked at her confused wondering what caused her to act like that. "I'm sorry, Alisa. But, I have a mission really soon. I got to go. I'll visit you tomorrow, so get some rest for now."

"H-Hey!"

"Huh? What?"

"I-I... was wondering if you remembered anything about your parents?"

"Hmm... No. Why?"

"I was just wondering."

"Oh, okay. See you." Claire waved as she left the infirmary.

Alisa laid back down and stared at the ceiling. "She doesn't remember anything? Why? I was able to remember..." Alisa sighed before she closed her eyes. "Ogretail, huh? They're one of the most common Aragami. So why doesn't she act like me when I saw that... monster?"


	4. CH 4: The Past

As soon as Claire finished her mission she went straight to Sakuya's room. She stood right outside her door wondering if she should open it or not. When she decided to enter Sakuya's room, she noticed her standing next to her terminal. She jumped a little she heard the door open and quickly turned around to see who barged in. She let out a sigh of relief when she noticed it was just Claire. "Am I... interrupting something?"

"No... Was there something you needed?"

"Yes, it's about Alisa..."

"Okay." Sakuya walked over to her couch and sat down. She motioned Claire to join which she did. "So does this have to do with Alisa?"

"Okay... uh... How do I explain this?"

"Explain what?"

"Okay, well, uh, I guess I can start by explaining what happened to me when I visited Alisa. I was worried about her, and when I placed my hand on top of hers then there was this strange thing that happened."

"What strange thing?"

"Well, at first, it was only just a series of images that I didn't really understand. When the next time I visited her, I started wondering if it might happen again. And just like before, it happened again, but this time, it was different."

"Different? How so?"

"Instead of images, it was like scenes or something that played. I think they were her memories."

"Her memories? What makes you sure that they were her memories?"

"Well... the first memory I saw was... two people getting devoured by a black Aragami. Those two were her parents. I also heard Alisa's voice crying out for it to stop. The next one was her compatibility test to become a God Eater. The last one I saw is the one I want to talk about the most."

"Okay... what?"

"It started off in like an infirmary or something, she was being shown different images of Aragami. And what concerns me the most was that... she was brainwashed."

"Brainwashed!? Are you sure!?"

"Yes..."

"What was she brainwashed to do?"

"She was brainwashed to... kill... Lindow."

"Lindow!? Why!?"

"I don't know..."

"Do you know who done this?"

"I didn't see him, but I kinda recognized the voice. It sounded a lot like that doctor that transferred here recently. But, I'm not too sure."

"Hm... I think I understand now. Poor Alisa... thanks for telling me this, I really appreciate it."

"You're the only person I told this to."

Both were quiet while Sakuya's thoughts went back to that strange occurrence with Alisa's memories. "I wonder if that's a New Type power... For you to communicate with such a simple touch. It's incredible, but... still a little odd. Please stay with her. She could use your support right now. Would you?"

"Of course." Sakuya began to wonder what Claire was up to since she held her hand up towards her waiting for her to accept it. "Do you want to try it?"

"Um, try what?"

"The thing that happened with me and Alisa."

"Uh, sure... but, why?"

"I want to see if it can only happen with New Types or if it can happen with Old Types too." Sakuya placed her hand on top of Claire's. Sakuya stared at her hand wondering if it's working. She looked up at Claire and was about to ask if it's working when she suddenly spoke up. "Nope. Nothing." Claire stood getting ready to leave. "I'll see you later."

"Hey? Why did you only tell me about Alisa?"

"Well... I didn't want you to start blaming her for what happened. If that starts happening then our team would start falling apart. I don't want that to happen." With that, Claire turned and left.

* * *

 _ **Next Day**_

Claire once again visited Alisa talking about whatever they can think of when they heard the door open. They both looked and noticed Sakuya walk in. "Oh... Miss Tachibana... H-Hello." Alisa greeted her somewhat nervously. "Thank you for coming to see me. What... What brings you here? If you don't mind."

"Hello, Alisa. Don't worry, I'm not here pass blame. I-I not angry."

"Then why?"

"I need to hear about what happened. Straight from you. I want you to tell me everything that you remember about that day. That moment." Alisa silently stared at Sakuya and was a little reluctant to talk to talk about that subject. "I know it's difficult, and to be honest... I can't accept what happened. But still... I can't doubt you. This is the only way to clear my mind. I heard about your past. This is not an easy thing I'm asking of you. Try. Please, for me." Alisa remained quiet as she looked over to Claire, asking if she should or not. Claire nodded before Alisa slowly looked back to Sakuya.

"I've been treated for years, still being treated for this... problem. Did you know about that?"

"Yes, I did know."

"When my parents... Something inside me just... snapped. I was hospitalized for years. For a long time, I only saw the world through a window. When Fenrir told me I could be a New Type God Eater... Well, Fenrir doesn't ask they demand. I was transferred immediately, and forcibly, from my own hospital into a Fenrir controlled facility."

"Poor thing..." Sakuya said.

"No, don't pity me. The doctors were nice and, secretly, I guess I was glad. Glad that I might have a chance to fight back, and then... They put me on meds that curbed my memories, buried that part of my past. I spent days learning strategy, tactics... Learning how to fight. And the Fenrir doctor assigned to me was kind. Even when he didn't have to be. He opted to leave his post and come here to keep helping."

"You're telling me that your old doctor serves here now? At the Den?"

"Yes, of course. I-I'm sure you've all met him. Doctor Oguruma. He's very nice." Sakuya remained quiet for a little while after hearing that.

"Ah... I'm sorry. Please, go on, Alisa."

"I was treated for my mental problems, trained day in and day out... And the Doctor found images of the Aragami that killed my parents. When I heard that it had appeared here, I begged for a transfer. I swore I would find it. I swore I would tear out its core and crush it. And then, when I saw it in that moment... Something snapped." Alisa started to tremble as she tried to explain. "My mind went blank. And when the world came back into focus, I saw Lindow as that beast. The thing that took away my family. And as I felt it in my heart... I was already pointing the gun at him. My finger on the trigger..." Alisa started to weep as it started to become too much for her.

"Alisa, I'm so sorry. It was important that I know, or I wouldn't have asked. I'll come by again. Just to talk." Sakuya looked over to Claire and they both nodded at each other before she left. Claire looked back at Alisa who somewhat recovered.

"What do I do? What can I do?" Claire reached out and placed her hand on top of Alisa's.

"I don't know. But, I'm here for you."

"Thank you. I don't deserve such kindness."

"Don't be like that."

"Why are you so nice?"

"I don't know. I just want to help and protect those I care about. I'll do anything for a friend, even if it means sacrificing my life to do so."

"I hope it doesn't come to that."

* * *

In the lobby, Claire talked with Kota about what's been going on. While talking Kota glanced to the side and Claire wondered what he was looking at. She looked behind and noticed Alisa walking over to them. Alisa stopped next to them and they waited for patiently for her to speak. "Um... As of today, I've been reinstated. I promise I won't ever let something like that happen again."

"Great! When are you gonna came back to the field?"

"Well, that... it's still to be decided, I think."

"Oh... Cool." They all heard someone speaking and they all looked towards the entrance.

"Did you hear about that New Type chick? She's finally getting back to her unit. Geez, way to ham it up."

"The same idiot who left Lindow to die? Who leaves a comrade anywhere near one of those crazy new Vajra?"

"Here's the kicker, though, she can't even go back into combat. Word around the base is she's all messed up in the head over it."

"Ha! See, man, I told you these New Types were all smoke and mirrors."

"I know you feel the same way. Mock me. I'm ready to take it."

"Idiot..." Alisa flinched slightly when she heard that was Claire who said that. "You know I would never do something like that." Alisa relaxed a little after hearing her say that.

"Yeah, she's right. We're not going to make fun of you. Hey, don't even listen to that crap, they're just... stupid. Oh, we actually got some news about that Aragami that attacked Lindow!" Alisa gasped slightly as she waited for Kota to speak.

' _Speaking of stupid.'_ Claire thought.

"Seems like they caught sight of one in the Western Europe branch too! We've been seeing these weird Aragami pop up all over the place. Like there's a storm brewing! At least, that's what I've been thinking..." Kota noticed the downed look on Alisa's face and he quickly went over to Claire. "I'm gonna bail before I screw anything else up..." Kota whispered before he quickly left the lobby.

Claire glared at Kota. _'Idiot! Don't speak about that Aragami unless it's important.'_

"Actually, I hoped to speak with you privately... So I was hoping... maybe... If you have time, maybe... Could you teach me again? I want to learn to fight the way I should have. I want nothing like this to ever happen again. And now... Now I can protect the people I care about."

"Of course I'll help."

"Thank you!"


	5. CH 5: Alisa's Resolve

The Borg Camlann charged at both Alisa and Claire. They both quickly dodge it and Claire switched to her gun form and fired at the Aragami. Alisa went in and slashed at its legs a few times which brought it down. Claire switched back and charged at the knocked down Aragami. She jumped with her God Arc above her head and she drove the blade into the Aragami which ended killing it. Claire yanked her God Arc out of it and she turned to Alisa. "Extractions en route, you guys. Fantastic work! I'm glad to see you back, Alisa." Hibari said.

"So... Hey..." Alisa said to get Claire attention. "Just in the last few missions, you've done more for me than I could ever imagine. I think... I think I have to figure out the rest on my own."

"Okay."

"I don't know if I'll return to active combat anytime soon, but... I'll keep training, so I'll be ready if I need to... When I decide to."

"We'll be waiting."

* * *

After returning to the Den Claire was about to leave for her room when Alisa called out to her. She stopped and turned to her wondering what she wants. "For humoring me all this time... Thank you so much." Claire noticed Alisa holding a big case. She lifted it towards her waiting for her to accept it. "Will you accept this as my token of gratitude? I want you to have this Tear Stone." Claire reached out and accepted the gift. "The Tear Stone was actually made to pair with the shield that I'm using right now. It used it back when I was in Russia. Then right before I left, I managed to break it somehow... So I had Licca fix it for me. It protected me from a lot of things. That's why I want you to use this!... Would that be okay?"

"Of course, I'll use it."

"Thank you! I hope you take good care of it."

"I will. I'll get it installed right away." Claire made her way for to her God Arc.

"Um..." Claire stopped when she noticed Kanon trying to get her attention. "I just wanted to talk to you about something."

"Okay. What?"

"I noticed Alisa working really hard to get better. I thought I shouldn't be slacking off anymore. So I decided to accept a really hard mission that involves fighting a Quadriga all by myself!" Claire quickly realized where this was going after she told her about the mission. "I soon realized that might have been a bad idea... yeah... So that's where you come in. Mind coming along with me on my mission?"

"Sure. We can go once I finish something."

"Great! Thank you!"

* * *

After an intense fight with the Quadriga both Kanon and Claire fire a barrage of bullets until they finally took it down. Once the battle was over Claire let out a tired sigh. "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome."

"I was totally confident that we were able to do that."

"You were?"

"Yeah! Well, I mean, if you weren't here, I probably wouldn't have been as confident. But since you are here, I felt like we could do anything!"

"Yeah... we should go on more missions together."

"You serious?"

"Yeah, maybe I can help you with your aim."

"That would be so awesome! You know, I'm kind of surprised that I didn't hit you."

' _Good thing I knew about her bad aiming. Man, it's tiring trying to watch the Aragami and her at the same time.'_ Claire thought.

"Hey! As a thank you for coming on this mission with me. Why don't I make you some of my special homemade cookies?"

"C-Cookies? Yes, please!"

"Alright! I'll make you the best cookies ever!"

* * *

Claire impatiently waited in Kanon's room while she was off making the thank you cookies she promised. Claire began to drool a little as she started thinking about the cookies and delicious they could be. She noticed something started to feel a little wet and quickly realized what it was. She quickly wiped the small drool from her face. "I got to stop doing that," Claire said to herself. "I just realized something. I wonder how good a cook Kanon is...?" Claire suddenly lets out a big yawn. "Man, I'm tired."

"I'm back~!" Kanon said upon her return. "I got the cookies!" She placed the plate in front of Claire.

"Um, do I... just take them all?"

"Of course! I made them for you!"

"Awesome..." She reached for one of them and she stared at the cookie in her hand. She looked at Kanon who was smiling at her waiting for her to taste it. She looked back to the cookie before taking a bite out of it.

"So? How does it taste?"

"It's... amazing..." Claire said as she started to eat them at a fast pace.

"I see you have a sweet tooth."

"I wouldn't say that I have a sweet tooth. It's just I love cookies a lot." Claire took a bite out of one cookie before she turned to Kanon. "Can you... make me... more next time?"

"Sure! It'll be a good way to thank you for all the help you gave me!" Kanon smiled but it faded pretty quickly. "You're not helping me just for the cookies, right?"

"Obviously not! Even if you stopped making them for me, I'll continue to help you. I'll never leave a friend in need."

"You care about your friends a lot. That's so cool!"

"Well, I'll be going now," Claire said as she wrapped up the cookies and left with a wave.

* * *

Claire walked down the hallway humming some tune. She came to a stop in front of Alisa's room. She started to think if she should check on her or not. She ended up deciding to check up on her. She knocked on the door waiting for an answer. "Yes?" She heard Alisa say.

"Uh, it's me."

"Oh, it's open. Come in." Claire opened the door and she looked around the messy room.

 _'Man, my house in the Outer Ghetto is cleaner than this.'_ Claire thought. _'Then again, Iris wouldn't let it become too dirty.'_

"So, what did you need?"

"I came here to check up on you, see how you're doing," Claire said as she sat down on Alisa's bed.

"Hehe, I'm fine. Thank you for worrying about me. It's all thanks to you that I feel better."

"Here, want some?" Claire said as she held up some cookies for Alisa to take. "Kanon made them for me as a thank you. As much as I like cookies, there's a little too much."

"Thank you," Alisa said as she the cookies stored them away for later. Once Alisa took them, Claire laid down and rested her on the pillow and she let out another big yawn. "You know, I really wanted to thank you again. If it wasn't for your help. I don't think I would have made as far as I did." Alisa turned back and noticed her eyes were closed and she was breathing softly. She walked over to her and sat down next to her.

"You're rather strange. I never meet anyone who cared so much about me in my life, besides my... yeah. We barely knew each other and you still cared about me." Alisa just sat there watching over her while she sleeps. "You must be really tired. I'm sorry for pushing you so much. I'll let you sleep for a little before I wake you."

* * *

 _ **Next Day**_

"That concludes the briefing. Any questions before you head out?" Tsubaki said.

"May I speak? I mean, if it's cool." Kota said as he raised his arm up. "Maybe, I dunno, we take Alisa on this mission? She's been working super hard to get back to her old self. And I think we're gonna need her on the field again, and... Yeah."

"Thank you, Kota... Tell me, Sakuya, what say you?"

Sakuya was quiet for a few second before she agreed. "I consent."

"What about you?" Tsubaki turned to Claire.

Claire looked at Alisa with a worried expression. "I do want her to come, but it's up to her."

"I will remind you, the target Aragami on this mission is the same kind you faced before. Are you certain you're up to this?"

"Yes, I'll be fine! I mean, I want to go."

"Very well. Miss Amiella, prepare for combat ops."

"Score! And don't worry, you got all us behind ya. We'll be awesome!"

"Yeah! I'll be right behind in case anything happens!"

While everyone readied themselves for the mission, Claire walked over to Alisa. "Are you sure you want to come along? You could always stay here."

"No, I'll be fine. Thank you for the concern."

"Are you sure? Well, alright. Don't push yourself out there, and if anything happens make sure to retreat. Okay?"

"Okay..."

"Alright, thank you. That makes me a little more relieved."

* * *

After battling the Varja for quite some time, they finally were able to weaken the thing enough to take it down. The Varja fell to the ground and Claire quickly rushed over to it to try and finish it off. But, it was too late as the Vajra had enough time to get away. "Cut off its escape! We can't let it get away!" Kota said as Claire missed her swing.

"Damn... It'll push us into a corner if we stay bunched up like this. Everyone split up and try to flank it." Sakuya ordered everyone. Everyone nodded as they ran off into different directions while Alisa gasped a little as she thought of being alone with the Aragami. She also took off running looking for the Aragami who ran away.

Alisa into cover while she wondered where it ran off too. She heard growling and she peeked out and watched as the Aragami walked out of one of the old buildings. Alisa looked around trying to find the others. "Papa... Mama..." Alisa muttered to herself. She strengthens her resolve as she let her cover and aimed at the Aragami. They both stared at each other while Alisa steadied her shot.

Claire walked down the broken street looking at every possible point that the Aragami could use to ambush her. She heard a roar up ahead as she rushed towards the sound. She came across a corner and she looked to the side and noticed Alisa on her knees. Worry began to cloud her judgment as she started to run over to her. "Alisa!? What happened? And where's the Aragami?" Alisa watched as the Vajra readied itself to pounce on the unsuspecting girl.

 _'N-No! I won't let you take another one away!'_ She quickly stood and fired a round at the Aragami. "Get away!" Alisa yelled.

Claire dived forward as the bullet sailed past her and hit something behind her. She rolled onto her feet as she looked behind and watched the target fall to the ground dead. "Holy shit!"

Alisa started breathing heavily as she started to break down. Both Kota and Sakuya arrived at the scene. Sakuya stared at Alisa before looking over to Claire. Claire nods at her while Sakuya walked over to her. She dropped her God Arc next to Alisa's as she started to hold her.

"What happened?" Kota asked.

"Alisa saved me. I would have been dead if she wasn't here. Little bits of me here and there, maybe an arm and leg there. Some pieces inside that thing."

"So she must have overcome her fear, right?"

"I guess so. Or at least came one step closer to overcoming it."


	6. CH 6: A Little Bit of the Past

**AN: You know, I'm actually kinda surprised at myself. Normally it would take me four to five months to make it to chapter six, but I did it in like two months.**

* * *

Alisa heard a knock on her door and began wonder who it could be since it was pretty late in the night. She opened the door and found Claire standing there. Claire turned around once she heard the door. She smiled at Alisa before she spoke. "Hey, I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

"No, I wasn't doing anything."

"Oh, okay. I just wanted to say thank you... for rescuing me. I really appreciate it."

"I'm just glad you weren't hurt... or worse."

"Seriously, I'm glad you overcame your fear. If I died there, you have no idea how much she would hate if I left her."

"She really cares about you, doesn't she?"

"Yeah," Claire said. "She's also really serious about promises you make with her. Especially when it comes to me."

"You made a promise you wouldn't leave her?"

"Yeah, when we were kids. She made that promise with me when she started to trust me."

"Well then, don't do anything stupid to break your promise, got it?"

"I-... okay... I'll try not to do anything reckless." Claire said. "Oh, by the way, I forgot the other reason why I'm here. There's a mission the first unit has been assigned to do first thing in the morning. I already told everyone else."

"Thank you for letting me know."

"No problem. Well, goodnight. I'm off to bed." Claire said as she waved and made her way over to her room.

* * *

Once the helicopter touched down the first unit hopped off. Claire looked back at everyone before she watched the helicopter take off. They all headed off towards the mission area. "We're fighting a Yaksha. That's our only target. We don't have to fight the other small Aragami. This should be easy, but we should prepare for the unexpected, just in case." Claire said.

"You're right." Sakuya agreed. "It's never a good idea to underestimate your enemies."

"Sakuya and I will snipe it from a distance. Kota cover Soma and Alisa as they charge in. I'll occasionally come in to help when I run out of ammo. Got it?" Claire said.

"Got it!" Kota said.

Once they turned the corner they all noticed the Yaksha walking into one of the buildings. "Alright, everyone! You know what to do!" Claire said as she switched to her gun form and was the first to hit it. The Yaksha turned around and roared at the approaching God Eaters. The Yaksha prepared to fire its cannon, but Soma stopped it by slashing its cannon. The battle went on for five minutes everyone working together as best they could. Claire and Sakuya fired at it from a distance while Soma and Alisa attacked its legs. Claire aimed at its head and fired the bullet strong enough to break its bond. Claire tried to fire again but heard clicking from her God Arc. She quickly switched to her sword form. Her eyes widened a bit as she noticed the Yaksha's arm cannon extended. The cannon aimed straight at the two snipers of the team. Both Claire and Sakuya dodged opposite directions. Claire was about to charge in when she suddenly noticed something in the corner of her eye. She glanced to the side and noticed four Orgetails in one of the buildings. _'Orgetails?! I thought they were supposed to be...'_ Anger started to build up as she continued to stare at the small group of Orgetails. She looked back at her team and then back to the group of Aragami. She started to ignore the main target altogether as she charged after them.

Blood started to spurt out of the Yaksha as the battle went on. Kota smiled as they were making it to victory. He looked around to make sure everyone was okay, but he quickly noticed someone was missing. "Hey, Sakuya! Where's Claire?"

"What?" Sakuya looked around once Kota brought up that her teammate was missing. "She was here just a second ago!"

" _Hey! Claire has engaged with the secondary target."_ Hibari said.

"Crap!" Kota said as Soma finished off the Yaksha. "We need to hurry! Claire might be in danger!"

After some searching, they were finally able to find Claire. They all found her in one of the broken down building with four dead Aragami surrounding her They watched as she repeatedly pulled out her God Arc and drove it back in until it dissolved.

"Damn it! Not again! This is the fourth time this happened!" Sakuya said.

"Huh?" Alisa didn't really understand what they were talking about.

"Oh! That's right. This is the first time you saw her like this, hasn't it?"

"Y-Yeah."

"I don't know what it is, but she gets like this whenever she sees an Orgetail. She gets really reckless and she's not as careful as she usually is. We tried asking her if she was alright, or why she acts like this. But she always says she's okay or she doesn't know."

"I didn't know that," Alisa said.

"Hey, do you know why she acts like that?" Sakuya asked. "The reason I'm asking is because I usually see her with you. So, do you know? And is it... okay... for you to tell us? I don't want to pry into other people's affairs."

"I do know, and I doubt she even knows why either," Alisa said. "It's because... of her parents."

"Her parents?"

"Yeah, her parents. Did she mention the thing that happened to us back when I was recovering from what happened?"

"Oh, yes, she did. What about it?"

"Well, I saw a memory of her parents... They were killed in front of her by the very thing that she killed this mission. It happened when she was a kid, an Aragami broke in and started to attack a bunch of citizens. Before it was taken down, Claire's parents were one of the victims of the incident."

"Oh... I think I know what incident you're talking about." Sakuya said.

"Really? Poor Claire." Kota said. "Are you going to tell her?"

"I don't know..."

"I think she deserves to know the truth," Sakuya said.

"Hey?" Everyone, except Soma, turned towards the voice. "Our pick is going to arrive soon," Claire said.

* * *

The helicopter ride back to the Far East was quiet. Alisa watched Claire stare out the window while she held her left arm. Alisa noticed a red liquid drip down her forehead. Claire tried to subtly wipe it away before anyone noticed it. Unfortunately for her, Alisa watched the whole thing.

Once the helicopter landed everyone went on with their business. Claire tried to leave before anyone asked any questions. Before she could make her escape Claire felt someone grab her shoulder. She looked back to see Alisa who looked slightly upset. "Come on." Was all Alisa said as she started to drag her.

"Um, to where?"

"The infirmary. We're going to treat your injuries."

"W-What? I'm fine, though. Nothing's wrong with me."

"Stop," Alisa said as she lets go of Claire's shoulder and turned to her. "I know something is wrong. When we were on the helicopter, I noticed you were holding your arm the whole time. You're still doing it." Alisa reached out grabbed Claire's arm and moved it out of the way. Claire didn't resist and let Alisa check up on her. "I knew it!" Alisa stared at the somewhat deep cut. "Why did you try to hide it?"

"I don't want people to worry about me. Especially, when I start to get like that." While Claire explained why she tried to hide her wounds, Alisa was checking for any more injuries. Alisa decided to check the last place she saw blood. She brushed some Claire's hair to the side and noticed a cut on the left side of her forehead.

"Geez... Come on, let's go."

"Okay."

* * *

Once they arrived in the infirmary it was quiet while Alisa bandages her up. Claire reached for her slightly torn jacket. She stared at it for a few seconds before she reached up and lightly touched the bandage on her forehead. Once Alisa finished wrapping up her arm, she walked away to put back the medical supplies. Everything was quiet for a while and Claire sighed a little. _'Is she still upset with me?'_ Claire thought.

"I thought you promised someone you weren't going to do anything reckless."

"I know... I'm sorry." Claire said as she put on her coat. "I should have told you about that. It's been a problem since I became a God Eater. And I don't know why."

' _Should I tell her? I don't know. I don't want her to become like me.'_ Alisa thought.

"Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, no. It's nothing." Alisa said. "Well, since you act like this. I guess I have no choice but to watch your back for now on."

"Uh, what?"

"If you're going to be acting like that in battle then I'll make sure you don't do anything stupid and reckless."

"Thank you... It is probably for the best if someone watched my back in case that happens again." Claire said as she stood up. "Well, I'm going to get some rest. I'll see you later. Thank you for taking care of my wounds."

Alisa watched as Claire left the room. _'Maybe it is for the best that she doesn't know.'_


	7. CH 7: New 1st Unit Captain

**AN: The promotion to captain has already happened.**

* * *

In the cold, windy mountains of the Far East near an old almost destroyed temple from before the Aragami stuck. Claire, the new leader of the 1st Unit, and Kota spoke to each other as they waited for one more member to show up. "I can't believe you went ahead and watched Bugarally without me!" Claire said.

"Well, you were busy," Kota said.

"That's no excuse!"

"I think there's something more important right now."

"Huh?" Claire looked at Kota, slightly confused.

"You're a captain now!"

"Oh, yeah. I guess you're right."

"How are you not excited for this?!"

"I don't know. Maybe I'm just so nervous that instead of worrying about if I'm going to make it back alive. Now I have to worry about if you or anyone else I'm on a mission with is going to make it back or not. There's so much to worry about. You guys are my responsibility now! That just adds more pressure."

"Oh... I didn't know you felt that way. Well, you got us behind ya. We'll help you to the best of our ability."

"Thank you, Kota."

"Alright, enough of this! Let's have some fun for a change."

"Uh, okay? What do you suggest?"

"I've been thinking of have a little party since your promotion."

"A party!?"

Kota noticed the excited look on Claire's face after he said party. "What? Never had a party before?" Kota said jokingly.

"Actually, yeah."

"Wait, really?"

"Yep, I never had time to have one when I was growing up. I was always busy."

"Well, since this is your first party. We gotta make it the best party ever!"

"Ooh! I'm getting excited."

"Darn right you better get excited!" Kota noticed Claire looking off to the side and he turned around to see Soma arriving for the mission.

"Somebody finally made it," Claire said.

"Hey, what up, Soma? I was just talking to Claire here about having a little party to celebrate her promotion. You down?"

"Gonna say no," Soma said as he wasted no time on considering it and continued forward into the mission area.

"Come on Soms, don't be the pre-party pooper!"

"Go ahead and have your 'shindig'. Just don't count on my RSVP." Soma said as he jumped down the ledge. Kota angrily followed him to the ledge and yelled at him.

"Jerk! Hey don't act all badass just... 'cause you're all badass and stuff! And don't be so arrogant even when you show up like twenty minutes late, but whatever! Jackass..." Kota turned towards Claire. "You'd think I was asking him to run ops naked. Damn... He's such a buzzkill! Whoops, it's twenty-past-mission. Guess we better get on out there yeah?" Kota said as he jumped down the ledge.

Claire sighed after watching what happened. "Geez, Kota... You got to stop arguing with Soma." Claire said to herself before following.

After Claire cut down the finally Aragami, she started to think back to happened with Alisa. Wondering how she can repay her for saving her from death. _'_ _I don't know if there's anything I can do to repay her...'_ Claire thought. _'Unless...'_

"Hey? Something wrong?" Kota said with a worried expression.

"What? Oh, no. Nothing's wrong."

"You sure? You looked pretty troubled. You worried about your position as leader?"

"Uh, no, not right now."

"Uh, then is it Soma? I'm worried about him. We haven't seen him since the mission started."

"No... I mean, yeah. I am worried about him, but it's not that."

"Well, then what?"

"Um, you know how Alisa saved me from that Varja? I was just thinking on how I could repay her."

"Ah, I get it."

"Do you know how I could go about it?"

"Hm... I can't think of anything big enough that would be the same as saving someone."

"Well... I'll think about it some later." Claire said as she started to leave the area. "Come on. Let's go find Soma so we can go home."

After Claire confirmed with Hibari that they were no Aragami in the area. She spilt up with Kota to find Soma so they can head home. They looked around the area, both not finding anything. It didn't take that long for them to find him. The area was pretty small, not many places for them to go. They found him in one of the old temples. It looked like he was looking for something, but they didn't know what.

"What's he doing?" Claire asked.

"I dunno. Let's just go check up on him." Kota said.

The moment Kota got close to Soma, he quickly faced towards them and pointed his God Arc at him. There was a very small look of surprise on his face, but it quickly faded away. "Whoa! Whoa! Hey!" Kota said as he held up his God Arc in defense, not expecting a God Arc to be pointed so close to his face.

"Huh... Well, I didn't expect to turn around and see you." Soma said.

"You are totally welcome," Kota said. "It's not like we came out here to look for you. Damn! You never came back. We got worried."

"Now you found me, why don't you turn right around and go home? I've things to handle on my own."

"What? We're comrades, man. We're in the same unit. Geez, you can be stuck-up."

"Ha! So we're comrades now, huh? How so?" Soma asked. "Who would want a comrade that can't take a little joke, a comrade you can't trust to have you back? Hmph. Better to not have them at all..."

"The hell, man?!" Kota yelled, feeling slightly insulted. "You know what, fine! Okay? Fine! You're so awesome! You're so epic! If you think you're so hot and you don't need us, then whatever! Suit yourself, jerk. I'm going home."

Claire watched as Kota turned and left them in the old temple. "Geez, Kota," Claire said to herself. "Don't mind him. He doesn't really mean it." Claire turned to Soma who gave that same unamused stare.

"You should go too. What do you need with a monster like me?" Soma said, ignoring what Claire had said.

"Monster or not. You're still a friend."

"A friend, huh?" Soma said, slightly amused "What the hell did I do to make you think like that?"

"During our first mission together. When Eric... died... I froze up and lost it... again. You made sure I survived that mission."

Soma stared at Claire for a few seconds before looking away. "Tch... Just get the hell out of here."

Claire sighed a little before she spoke up. "Alright, I'll leave. I know you're fine now. Just don't do anything reckless... although I'm not one to talk. Ugh, now I have to write up a report."

"Since when the hell did you start taking your job seriously?"

"Since I became a Captain," Claire said before she left Soma to do his things.

* * *

Back at the Den, Claire stood outside the door of her room who used to belong Lindow. She hasn't entered the room once she has been promoted to captain. She didn't feel right for taking Lindow's room. Whenever she felt too tired to do anything and she needed sleep, she would always ask Sakuya or Alisa for a place to sleep for a while. She opened the door and looked around the room, everything was still the same since the last time she visited. Her eyes fell upon a picture near a radio. She walked over to and picked it up. She looked sadly at the picture which contains Sakuya, Tsubaki, and Lindow. She took the picture outside the room and she walked over to Sakuya's door. She knocked on the door waiting for an answer. She didn't wait long for an answer as she heard Sakuya telling her to come in.

"Claire?" Sakuya greeted her once she noticed it was her who entered. "Was there something you need?"

"Uh, I finally went into... my new room."

"Oh."

"I find this." Claire showed Sakuya and noticed her expression changed to sadness. "I thought maybe you should keep." Sakuya took the picture and stared at it for a couple of seconds.

"Thank you..."

"You're welcome. I'll talk to you later. I just finished writing a report not too long ago, and I'd like to take a rest."

"Alright." Claire turned around to leave her to rest.


	8. CH 8: Mission Goes Terribly Wrong

In her room by herself, Claire sat at her desk to write a report of the recently completed mission. "And... done. That's the paperwork for today's mission... and I got, even more, paperwork later today... Ugh." She stood up and stretched from sitting for so long. She looked at the clock and noticed it was almost time for her mission with Kota was about to start. "Just in time too. I gotta go file this quick." Claire grabbed the papers and quickly made her way to the lobby. Once she reached the elevator, she stood there waiting for it to arrive. Her thoughts went back to what she talked about with Kota during their last mission together. Eventually, the elevator arrived and Claire walked in and pushed the button for the lobby.

' _I guess there is only one way to repay her. I'm gonna have to kill the Aragami that killed her parents. But has it been sighted at all recently?'_ Claire thought. _'And am I even capable of doing it?'_

The elevator doors opened and Claire walked down the stairs over to Hibari. She held up the papers for Hibari to take. "Here, Hibari. The after action reports."

"Thank you." Hibari took the papers before she spoke to her about something important. "Claire?"

"Yes?" Claire turned back to Hibari as she was just about to leave.

"The director wishes to see you in his office before your mission."

"Thank you, Hibari. I'll go right away." Claire said before she made her way over to the elevator.

Once she arrived at the Director's office, Claire stood in front of his desk, patiently waiting for him to speak. The Director leaned forward on his chair before he spoke up. "You have achieved incredible thing during your tenure here. To think you would acquire such leadership talents so fast... Perhaps it is a knack unique to the New Types. It has proven most useful." The Director paused briefly before continuing with what he was saying. "You may already be aware, but construction on the Aegis Island is nearing completion. We are at last ready to enter the final stages. It is a bold shield, an Ark to protect humankind from the Aragami threat... eternally. The impending success is cause for celebration. However, we must not let our guard down. We're so very close... I will continue to require your services. I hope I can rely on you, Captain."

"Of course, Director. I'll do anything to help." Claire said.

"Good." A buzzing from the computer next to caught his attention and he quickly pressed a button to answer it. "Pardon me, I... I was expecting a visitor. We'll continue this another day. I continue to expect only the best from you, Captain. You will help to lead us into a bright wondrous future. Dismissed." Claire nodded as she turned to leave the room.

Outside of the Director's office, Claire spotted Sakaki walking towards her. "Hello, Dr. Sakaki," Claire said as she past Sakaki and continued towards the elevator, but stopped when Sakaki spoke up.

"I wonder... do you count yourself a curious person?" Before Claire could ask him what he meant, he turned back and went into the Director's office. Claire stared at where Sakaki was standing.

"Weird... I wonder what that was about?" Claire was about to leave when she noticed something on the ground. She bent down and picked it up. It was a disk, and she could only guess that Sakaki dropped it. "What do I do? I can't give it to him now. He's meeting with the Director, and I'm going on a mission pretty soon..." Claire started to think of a situation but was only able to come up with one.

"I'm just gonna have to keep until I'm able to give it back. I'll just drop it off in my room."

* * *

In the old City, Claire and Kota walked over to the mission area together. Claire had her God Arc resting over her shoulder while Kota was walking leisurely beside her. "You know Kota. It's been a while since we last went on together, just the two of us."

"Has it?"

"Yeah. I think the last time was when we were just recruits."

"Oh yeah, that was quite some time ago. Man, I still didn't think you would rocket up to leader status."

"Alright, Kota! Let's show them that we're the best God Eater duo in the Far East!"

"Right behind ya! Let's get this sucker done!" Kota said as he and Claire ran over to the mission area. Kota and Claire came to a stop when they reached a corner. Kota peeked around the corner and found the small herd of Aragami they were looking for. Before engaging them, Kota turned to Claire to make sure she doesn't lose herself to anger.

"Claire?"

"Yeah? What is it?"

"The target is right ahead of us."

"Okay." Claire nodded.

"I just wanted to make sure that you don't..."

"I... I'll try. I promised Alisa that I wouldn't do anything reckless. Can you watch over me to make sure that doesn't happen?"

"Right! Don't worry, Kota's got your back!"

"Thank you." Claire smiled before she walked around Kota and stared at the Aragami herd. Two Zygotes noticed her and alerted the others before charging at her. Claire readied herself before the Aragami could get close. Once the Zygote got close, it tried to attack, but it missed as Claire dodged out of the way. Claire jumped up and slammed her God Arc into the Aragami, forcing it to the ground. The moment it tried to get up, Kota placed the barrel of his God Arc into the large eyeball and pulled the trigger. One after another Claire cut them down while Kota shot them out of the sky. Shortly after taking out half of the Zygotes, the Orgetails started to show up. Once Claire noticed the Orgetails she started to clench her fist in anger. Claire began to charge at the Aragami ready to kill them.

"Claire!" Kota called.

Claire came to halt once she heard Kota call out her name. Kota watched as Claire took a battle stance as the Aragami began to charge at her. Kota fired at the Orgetails before running over to Claire. "Claire! You all right now?"

"Yes." Was all she said before lifting her God Arc and deploying her shield to block the projectiles from the Orgetails. "Thank you. Let's finish this."

The mission was going well with Kota watching Claire carefully to make sure she doesn't try to run off. It looked like the Aragami's numbers were depleting at a decent rate, but they didn't expect more of them to appear. Their numbers were greater than what the report had said. Even though they were small Aragami numbers like this spelled out trouble for Kota and Claire. Both of them slowly started to back away from the Aragami. Kota kept up the fire on the ones that were distant while Claire cut down anyone that got too close. A very loud thud from behind them caught their attention and they turned around to see an Orgetail right behind Kota. The Orgetail tackled Kota with its body and he hit the wall hard enough to knock him out. The Orgetail walked over to Kota to finish him out and being eating him. But, before it could get close enough, Claire cut it down. "I'm not losing another one!" Claire shouted. "You're not going to end up like Eric..." Claire started to shake him awake, but it wasn't working.

"Shit!" Claire quickly pulled out her radio and began calling for Hibari.

"Claire? What's going on? Kota-"

"Hibari! I need an extraction! Quick! Kota being knocked out by the enemy, and there's too many of them for me to keep him safe!"

"R-Right! Sending in an extraction and rescue team! Just hang in there until they arrive."

The moment Claire out away her radio, two more Aragami show up. The Zygotes charged at them and Claire jumped up in the air. She quickly cut them down before she focused her attention to Kota. She grabbed him by the shoulder and placed his arm over her shoulder and started to carry him out of harm's way.

* * *

 _ **The Den**_

Sakuya walked down the stairs leading to the shopkeeper. She noticed Hibari working at a frantic pace. She began to wonder what is wrong. "Hibari? Is something the matter?" Sakuya asked.

"It's Claire! She's in trouble!"

"What!? How?!"

"She and Kota went on a simple mission together, but the Intel didn't say that the Aragami had such numbers," Hibari explained. "Currently, Kota is unconscious, and Claire's trying to keep him alive long for our forces to arrive."

"Inform Soma and Alisa! We're going in to rescue them!"

"Right!"

* * *

 ** _Moments Later_**

Claire was able to kill and cut down most of the Aragami, but their numbers were still too great for her to handle on her own especially since her partner was out cold. Eventually, Claire was able to drag Kota to the old church and hid in that one spot that had only one entrance. Claire tried to recover breath after placing Kota on the far said of the room. She stood near the entrance, occasionally looking out the entrance to see if any Aragami spotted them. She readied herself after noticing one Zygote slowly making its way over towards their general direction. Soon after an Orgetail started following it. "Alright, alright. Stay calm. Breath in and out. In and out. If Alisa can start overcoming her fear, I can overcome this too." When the Aragami got too close, Claire jumped out of her hiding spot and cut down the Aragami. All the Aragami noticed the noise and began charging after Claire. ' _Focus only on defending Kota.'_ Claire thought.

After a while, it looked like their numbers were dwindling, but it still wasn't enough. Claire started to breathe rather heavily from the constant fighting. Things started getting bad as an Orgetail tackled into her. She hit the wall behind her and she heard a faint cracking noise from her right arm. She dropped her God Arc and nearly screamed from the pain. She stood up and picked up her God Arc with her left hand. _'Argh, if I didn't have to worry about Kota's safety, I would have defeated them all_ _al_ _ready.'_ Claire thought. _'Right. Only s_ _even_ _more I got this!'_

Claire found it somewhat difficult to swing with only her left arm. It took a little more than usual to be able to cut down one Aragami. When she cut that Aragami down, she failed to notice one of the Aragami closed in. It jumped in ready to finish her off. Claire tried to back away, but it was already too late. A gunfire rang out as the attacking Aragami was shot down by someone. "I'm up! I'm up!" Kota had finally woke up, still a little dizzy from before. "What happened?"

"You got knocked out, and while I was defending you, I think I broke my arm."

"Ouch, I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

"Don't worry about it." They all faced the last five Aragami. Before they could prepare to fight them off a barrage of bullets took out the rest of them. "Oh, good. They're here." Claire said, relieved that she doesn't have to fight. Soon after some God Eaters they haven't meet appeared. Not long after that, some familiar faces showed up. Sakuya, Soma, and Alisa showed up they all were looking around to make sure there wasn't any more left. Once they confirmed that the area was clear, they turned their attention to the injured God Eaters.

Shortly after catching her breath, Claire was enveloped in a hug by Alisa. She winced a little after some pressure was put on her arm. "I was so worried. I thought you promised not to do anything reckless?" Alisa lightly hit Claire's arm.

"O-Ow..."

"What's wrong?" Alisa asked.

"I-I think you hit the arm I broke."

"Oh, I-I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay."

"You were reckless again."

"Actually, this time, I wasn't reckless."

"Yeah, sorry. This time was my bad. I'll take blame for this one." Kota said.

"Whatever. Let's go back."

"Claire! Are you okay?" Sakuya said after she secured the area.

"I'm fine. Just a broken bone."

* * *

 _ **The Den**_

Claire left the infirmary after the doctor checked her injury and bandaged it up. Alisa and Kota were waiting outside worried for their friend. "Claire!" Kota said as they both went over to her. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I should be. It's only a minor fracture. I should be back in duty soon. Hopefully soon." Claire said as she went over to the elevator. The other two right behind her.

"I'm sorry, Claire. Totally my bad." Kota said.

"It's fine. As long as everyone comes back home. That's the only thing I care about."

"Still. I'll lend you Bugarally." The elevator arrived and they all went in.

"Thanks. That will keep me occupied enough to till I'm able to get back to work."

"No problem. It's the least I can do for screwing up."

"You two have a mission pretty soon, right? Well, I'll see you later." The elevator stopped on the veteran God Eater section. Claire stepped on the blue carpet and made her way over to her room. "Make sure you drop off Bugarally before you go."

Before Kota could press the button for the lobby, Alisa quickly stepped off the elevator. "I need to speak with her. I'll be back in a little while."

"Uh, okay," Kota said as the elevator door closed.

Before the door to Claire's room could close, she heard Alisa call out to her. She turned around wondering what Alisa needed. "Hey, Alisa. Did you... need something?"

"I just wanted to talk."

"Okay, about what?"

"I just wanted to talk you about this feeling I've been having for a while."

"Oh? Tell me about it?"

"It's just... I've been feeling restless every time you go on a mission."

"Okay, go on."

"...And whenever you get hurt. I just end up getting worried sick."

"Hmm..." Claire closed her eyes as started to think of an answer for Alisa. "...Have you ever had a friend before, you know...?"

"N-No. Why?"

"Then you just really care about me. Friends do care about each other. They would sometimes get worried when they found out their friend is hurt. Maybe it's something like that."

"Hm... I-I think you're right. You are the first person in a very long who cared about me so much."

"Did I help?"

"Y-Yeah, you did. Thank you again."

"No problem. Is there anything else?"

"No, thank you again. I need to go. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, see you." Claire waved at Alisa before turning around to rest for a while


	9. CH 9: The Aragami Girl

"Can't believe what Soma had to go through that," Claire said as she stared at the disc in her hand. She watched its contents after realizing she had it. The elevator opened and she made her way over to Dr. Sakaki's lab. Claire pressed a button and opened the door. Sakaki looked away from his monitors for a moment, wondering who entered.

"Ah, Claire. What can I do for you?"

"You've dropped this before," Claire said as she placed the disk next to one of the monitors.

"Ah, yes. I can be absentminded indeed. Thank you for picking this up. Needless to ask, you didn't... watch it, did you?"

"Uh..." Before Claire could say anything, Sakaki continued on.

"No, of course not. Merely old memories. A youth long past. Ah, that does remind me though. I needed to call you in any way. I'd like you to obtain the core of a certain Aragami. The Director left it to me to assign this task while he's gone."

Claire looked down started to feel a little exhausted from the recent mission. _'Is this those 'special missions' the Director was talk about?'_ Claire thought.

Without noticing Sakaki walking over to her and standing right in front of her. "No one need know of this. Yes? Not the Director... No one." Claire leaned back after Sakaki got uncomfortably close. "To be fair, I've assigned the task to Soma as well. Good kid, Soma. I would be ever grateful if you could figure out a way to solve this together." Finally, Sakaki took a step back before he continued on. "Oh, and atop that, congratulations are in order. I hear you have been recently promoted. Well, congratulations."

"Uh, thank you..."

"Now then, tell me... Have you ever heard of the Managarm Project?"

"Y-Yes."

"There was nothing admirable about that research. No, nothing at all. It cost me a dear, dear friend. And poor Soma was left behind, to shoulder the burden of all that darkness on his own. And I... Well, I am ashamed to admit I am responsible in part of his rage." Once again Sakaki got uncomfortably close to her. "I was hoping—in fact, I would be your debt—if you could reach to Soma. Befriend him."

"Okay. I'll do that."

"Oh, I am deeply sorry. I haven't even put any consideration into that injury of yours. Why is it by the way?"

"It's fine. I should be able to go back into duty now."

"Excellent! Well, I'll leave that mission I assigned to you." Claire nodded and walked out of the room to get ready for the mission.

* * *

In the lobby, Claire had finished preparing for the mission and was just about to head out when she was called out by someone. She looked back to see Alisa walking over to her. "Off on another mission?"

"Yeah, so, what do you need?"

"I just wanted to remind you to not do anything reckless."

"I know."

"Good. As long as you know. I'll let you go now."

"Alright, see you later," Claire said as she turned to leave.

* * *

 _ **A Day Later**_

Just like yesterday, Claire was called down to the Sakaki's lab for another secret mission. The moment she entered the room Sakaki once again moved uncomfortably close. "Greetings! So sorry to keep summoning you in. Haha! I have a certain special favour to ask of you today. As before, I will be sending you on an Aragami Extermination task. I've taken the liberty of arranging your team myself. Alisa, Sakuya, and for a third... Kota! That will be plenty. Don't fret over mustering up more God Eaters. I've contrived to make this seem a routine, everyday, totally normal mission. Well, that's all. Thank you. Good luck. Fight well. Dismissed."

Claire nodded and turned to leave. Once the door closed behind her and she signed a little. "Another secret mission. I wonder why he wants it to look like a normal mission." Claire once again sighed before continued down the hallway. "Whatever, It's an order. I just have to follow it."

* * *

In the cold, snowy mountains near the old shrine, Claire's 1st unit team chased down a very injured Chi-You. Claire noticed it was running towards the cliffs and guessed it was trying to leave the area. The Chi-You stopped near the cliff and was ready to fly out of danger. Claire jumped at the Aragami and ended it with one final swing of the God Arc. _'Sakaki wanted this to be a normal mission, but it really was just a normal mission._ _There wasn't anything odd about it._ _What's going on?'_ Claire thought.

Everyone gather around the Aragami with Claire standing next to it ready to extract the core. Alisa switched to her God Arc to its gun form and everyone watched the area to make sure no Aragami tried to sneak up on them. Claire took a stance and the God Arc was ready to devour the Aragami. She was just about to devour it and take its core when suddenly a voice called out to them. "Please, all of you, hold your Arcs." Claire reverted her weapon back into its blade form and turned around to see Soma and Sakaki walking towards them.

"Huh?" Sakuya looked surprised and confused to why Sakaki was outside the safe of the Far East Branch.

"Doc, why're you here?" Kota asked.

"Worry not, all will be explained in time," Sakaki said. "Leave that Aragami there for a moment. Come with me I've something to show you." Sakaki turned around and started to walk down the stairs. Everyone started to follow him as they were curious to what he was talking about.

Ten minutes had passed by and everyone waited patiently. Sakaki reached inside his robe and pulled out a pocket watch. He opened it and stared at it for a moment before putting it way. Once he looked back he noticed something walking towards the Aragami. "There! Look, it's come! I knew it would!"

Everyone watched as a person climbed on top of the Aragami and started to pick it apart and eating the piece it tore off of it. Everyone charged after the strange person and it stopped eating once it heard noises behind them. The strange person slowly turned around and watched as everyone surround the Aragami corpse. "Um... I... I am... H-Hungry." The person said who appeared to be a little girl.

"Whoa!" Kota said.

Everyone carefully watched the girl to sure she doesn't try anything. "Welcome, welcome! Good to see you! It certainly took a while to took you to show yourself, hm?" Sakaki said as he walked over to everyone. "Thank you, Some, for all your help in bringing her here. Oh, there's just so much I must know! So many opportunities!"

"I'd appreciate an explanation more than your thanks, Doctor," Soma said.

"The little lady was quite determined. Wouldn't appear when we needed her to, so I took a chance and eliminated all of her natural prey in the region. Hahaha! Can't ignore hunger forever, whether it's your favourite or not." While Sakaki was explaining, the little girl watches everyone curiously.

"You are devious, Doctor, and I don't know whether that's a compliment..." Soma said.

"Uh, hey, so... I'm just gonna ask the question one everyone's mind... Why the hell is this kid?" Kota asked.

"Ah, of course, of course. We probably shouldn't be speaking out in the cold like this. All will be explained at the lab. So sorry to keep you all in the dark. Uh, you will join us, yes?" Sakaki said to the little girl.

"I am hungry!" She said like those were the only words she knew.

"Yeah?" Soma said.

"I... I am... hungry?"

* * *

Back at the den, Claire found it rather strange that they needed to sneak her in Sakaki's lab without anyone else knowing. They stood around the girl as she sat on the floor. While they listened to Sakaki's explanation, the next thing he said surprised everyone in the room. "Wha-what?!" Everyone screamed as they took a step back in shock.

"Did you just say what I think you just said you said?" Sakuya said.

"I can say it again, but I assure you it will be no different. This is an Aragami."

"No way. Mm-mm. No!" Kota said.

"What? How?!" Alisa said.

"How many people did she eat?!" Claire said.

"Now, now, be at ease. I promise on my scientist's honour that this Aragami has no desire eat you." After Sakaki said that everyone started to ease up. "Aragami are monsters, yes, and they all share a certain trait. We refer to it as their 'Bias'. You follow?"

"It's an Aragami's coding. Their predatory nature." Alisa started to explain in case anyone didn't know. "Our God Arcs have the same thing. That's how they innately know to Devour."

"Correct as usual, Alisa. These sorts of things are second nature to a God Eater of your calibre."

"Wait... what?" Kota said not understanding what they just said.

"Of course..." Soma said not at all surprised by Kota's reaction.

"This Aragami's Bias is unlike any before. It has predilection only towards beast of a higher order. As far as she's concerned, we puny humans don't even register as a kind of food. You see, this is the common misconception. Aragami aren't simply born with the characteristics of other life forms! Not at all! They simply advance at a breakneck pace as they Devour more and more each day. As a result, all the possibilities of evolution are condensed into such a short period of time! Choices and change come rapidly. And those moments make an Aragami precisely what it is!"

"So you're telling me that this... child..." Sakuya said.

"Exactly! As all humankind did, she found a set of skills and stalled there in her process. It's quite remarkable, really. She's an Aragami evolving in the same way a human might."

"This child is both? An Aragami and a human?" Soma said.

"Yes. Well, no. Well, based on the examinations I ran earlier... Her cranial nerves and synapses—Oracle cells acting as cranial nerves and synapses—function precisely as a human's might. She has an incredible capacity to learn—clearly, as evidenced by her use of language—and she holds much potential."

"All right, so Doc," Kota said as he raised his hand in the air.

"Yes, Kota?"

"I think I followed along and got the gist... Okay, it was over my head. But regardless, I'm a little confused. So she talks a lot about food, about 'being hungry'... What exactly do you think she means?"

"Food!" The Aragami girl said.

Kota quickly took a panicked stance once the word left her mouth. "Eeep! Cause you know, it's a little ominous."

"The Bias of an Aragami dictates its dinner choices. As a rule, they will not partake of anything like unto themselves. You understand?" Sakaki explained the situation. "That said, in times of dire need—uh, now—they'll gobble up anything they can get mitts, paws, or claws on. Survival comes first, after all."

Everyone in the room besides, Soma, back away in fright wondering if they're next on the menu for the Aragami girl. Said Aragami stared at them with a curious smile. "Of course that's just an exception to the rule, as all good rules must have." Sakaki chuckled a little as everyone eased up a little. "The word Aragami is actually merely an epithet for the creatures. It emerged shortly after their arrival. Many of these monsters appeared in the shapes of 'Gods' or God-like beings. And here's the rub. What thought process, what evolutionary trick, caused them to adopt such forms? They emulate creatures humanity has worshipped for ages. And how did we come to worship them? This Aragami child bucked that trend. She managed to instead emulate a human. it's beyond rare; it's unheard of. But I digress, and I ramble, and I think you are all well and thoroughly matched by this study group."

"Is this why you sent out to kill those Aragami? So you can study... uh, her?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"Huh... I never expected this in my God Eater career."

"With that done. I'll leave you with this—and I think it best—let's keep this little secret amongst ourselves, hm? No need to let the news get out and about."

"Doctor, certainly we'll have to report to the adviser... to the Director," Sakuya said.

"Miss Tachibana..." Sakaki walked over to Sakuya before he continued on. "You are an exalted God Eater. A stalwart defender of humankind. Noble and brave. Do you mean to tell your superiors that I, in your trust, stole an Aragami, smuggled her to the forward command, and plan to keep her?"

"Well... I... Well, um..." Sakuya was at a loss for words as she realized the situation she was in and all she could do was sigh. "No... But why?"

"Did I not mention that? I thought I mentioned that. Because she's a valuable sample! Simply perfect to further my one personal research. Nothing more than that really. Very simple. Oh, fret not. I've taken great pains to ensure this section has unique communications and offset security protocols. It's very, very safe." Sakaki lowered his voice that only Sakuya could hear it. "And I'm sure you wouldn't want anyone to pry into your... shall we say, private affairs, Miss Tachibana?" Sakaki then started to speak at usual volume. "Not to mention that you are already on the hook as my accomplices. Best to simply go along with it, yes? Yes."

"I am hungry!" The Aragami girl said once again.

"Most important, I'd believe that the young girl needs some friends. I feel she will find a particular affection for you, Soma."

"You're out of your mind! She may play pretend well, but she is not a human, just an approximation. She's still a monster on the inside." Soma stormed out of the room.


	10. Ch 10: Dinner with Shio

**AN: Double chapters, because, why not?**

* * *

As a request from the Doctor Sakaki, everyone in the 1st unit, besides Soma, arrived at Sakaki's lab. Once they entered the lab, Sakaki started to explain why he called them here. "You want to... name her?" Alisa asked.

"Naturally. We can't keep calling her 'the child', and 'the specimen', while accurate, seems... cruel. I simply have no aptitude for such a task. Hence I have tasked all of you with finding a suitable name for the child in my stead. Go to."

"Go to!" The Aragami girl repeated what Sakaki said.

"Hahaha! Well, I hate to brag, but I'm a pretty darn good name... er... of th-things and stuff." Kota said not sounding all that confident at the end.

"Well, that sounds ominous," Alisa said.

"Hmm... Let us see here." Kota closed his eyes as he started thinking of ideas. "Bam got it! Norami!" Everyone was quiet for a few seconds they took Kota's idea in.

"Uh... no!" Alisa said.

"What do you mean. No?! You got a better idea?"

"I didn't say that... Why should I have to..." Alisa looked away in embarrassment.

"Ha! I found you out, sister! You're afraid, aren't cha? You got no style!"

"I most certainly am not afraid, you brute! Um... Well, she could be... Uh..." Alisa desperately tried to figure out a name and prove Kota wrong."

"Shio!" The Aragami girl said.

"Yes! Yes, that's perfect! And precisely what I was going to say. Thank you, Shio."

"You're such a liar! Shame! If we can't think of anything, let's go with Norami."

"Shio!" She said again.

"Is Shio... already your name?" Sakuya asked.

"Yep! Shio!"

"Well, it appears this was a vain exercise. The child has already been christened. Very well then, Shio it is?"

"Whaaaat?! Come on!" Kota couldn't believe this after coming up with a name he thought was good. "Are suuuure you don't wanna be Norami? It's pretty cool."

"Nope!" Shio said.

"Gaaah! Work with me here!"

"Kota, that name wasn't really good, anyways," Claire said,

"What?! Oh yeah! What about you! Do you have any good names?"

"Oh, no. I'm terrible at naming things."

* * *

 _ **A Few Hours Later**_

Sakuya had left since she had a mission that she was assigned to and the only ones left were Claire, Alisa, and Kota. Since they had no missions for today they decided to spend time with Shio as a request from Sakaki. For the past few minutes, Kota had been teaching Shio a certain way to speak. It looked like a success in some way. "Yo!" Shio chuckled a little.

"Yes! Told ya!" Kota said.

"Ugh! Of course, you'd teach her to talk that way! It's positively vulgar!" Alisa said.

"What? There ain't nothing wrong with it."

"Ain't nothing wrong!" Shio repeated.

"Shio, don't listen to Kota. You don't want to grow up to be an idiot, right?"

"I'm not an idiot..." Kota muttered to himself.

"How about this. Good day to you, Shio."

"Mm... G-Good day to you?"

"Perfect! Oh, good job, Shio!" Alisa said as she patted Shio's head.

Shio gave a small giggle before she crawled over to Claire who was just watching the whole time. "Alisa said... good job, Shio! That's a nice thing, right? When she says, 'Good job, Shio!'"

"Yes, it is, Shio." Claire smiled as she too patted her head. Shio started to speak to herself feeling happy after receiving some praise from the others.

"She's pretty quick, isn't she?" Kota said.

"Indeed. She's learned so much so fast, partially due to your engaging her like this. Hm... Even so, she is much more intelligent than I thought she might be. It's astounding that she survived so long in the wild, all the time having this locked inside. She must have been starving for communication and interaction!"

Claire yawned and rubbed her tired eyes. "I'm tired."

"You are? Maybe you should get some rest for the rest of the day." Alisa said.

"Yeah, I should."

"I think we should call it for today too," Alisa said as they left the room.

* * *

 _ **Three Days Later**_

"Sakaki has asked me to see him. It's probably for another mission... I better get Soma to come along." Claire said as she entered the elevator and pushed the button for the veteran God Eater section. She walked down the hallway looking at the door she past wondering which one belonged to Soma.

"Which one was Soma's room again? I can't remember. I'll just pick at random." Lucky for her, the first door she opened that wasn't locked was Soma's room.

"What? Oh, it's just you. What do you want?"

"I need you to come with me."

"What? Why?"

"Just come on."

Soma let out a frustrated sighed. "Fine!"

* * *

Now that she had Soma with her, she made her way over to Sakaki's lab. They entered the lab to find Sakaki sitting on one of the coaches with Shio standing right next to him. "Good day to you. Working hard, I imagine? Yes?" Sakaki greeted the two. "Thanks to you, Shio's natural intelligence has skyrocketed. She is nearly at an adult level of comprehension and conversation."

"I did really good! Thank you! Thank you, both!" Shio said as she bowed twice.

"Though she still does retain some speech patterns. In any case, I asked you to come here as we have a pressing issue. I don't mean to frighten you, but... We have no source of food for Shio. Suffice it to say, this must be handled immediately. I had a sufficient stockpile of cores... heh, or at least I thought it sufficient. But just yesterday it seems I have emptied my coffers. So, that in mind, I think it's time you took her out for a night. Uh, a date, if you will."

"So you want me to help Shio kill some Aragami so we can feed her?" Claire asked.

"Yes, correct! A full three-course dinner should suffice very well. Good luck."

"Good luck!" Shio repeated.

"Okay," Claire nodded.

"So explain why the hell I'm here. You can't just force jobs on me!" Soma said.

"Ah, so you recruited Soma, did you? Truly proof of your leadership! Well done! I suppose you won't be able to resist now, will you, Soma?"

"Damn you, old man."

"Lovely! Now, go forth and feast! I put my faith on you."

"Thank you much," Shio said. "Doctor? Uh... What's a date mean?"

"It's... a joyous occasion for all!"

"Sounds delicious! I'm ready for some joyous occasion!"

* * *

In the lobby, Claire, Kota, and Soma got ready for the mission. "Argh! I can't believe I let you rope me into this!" Soma said.

"No point in complaining about it now."

"So... what's the mission?" Kota asked.

"Uh..." Claire leaned closer to Kota and spoke in a quieter voice so nobody could hear what she was going to say. "We're going to feed Shio."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Claire said before she went to go buy some supplies. It wasn't until she was done buying her that someone called out to her. She looked behind herself to see Alisa walking over to her.

"Where you off to?"

"I'm going... on a date."

"A d-date?!"

"Stop calling it that!" Claire and Alisa heard Soma shout at them.

"Wait! Is that... Soma? So, your..."

"Okay! It's not really a date..."

"Oh, that's good." Alisa sighed with relief.

"Yeah, it's really-... Wait! Why's that good?"

"I-uh, I don't know."

"Huh... oh, well. We're really going on a mission to feed Shio." Claire said. _'Maybe she likes Soma... I didn't expect that.'_ Claire thought.

"That's what you're doing?"

"Yep. I have to go now."

"Alright, bye."

* * *

At the abandoned carrier, there only targets were just a couple of small Aragami. Two Zygotes, and one Orgetail. So they were pretty easy to take down. Kota, Claire, and Soma stood next to Shio who was about to dig into the Orgetail. "Hey, Claire, you're not..."

"Don't worry. As long as I don't look, I'll be fine." Claire said as she stared at the ocean towards Aegis.

"Did... Did something bad to Claire?" Shio asked.

"Don't worry. It's nothing."

"Okay."

"Don't you think it's time to eat?" Kota said.

"Oh, that's right! Let's eat! It's time to eat!" Shio was about to dig in when she suddenly remembered Soma. "Oh, wait, wait, wait... Soma! Soma, you want to come eat too?"

"Whoa there Shio. We don't eat Aragami. We're human, you see?"

"Human? But... But... Um... Soma's Aragami says he's hungry and he wants to eat."

"What the-?!"

"Shut up! That's... I'm not a monster! I'm nothing like you! Nothing!"

"Soma..." Claire looked at Soma knowing why he started shouting.

"The hell, man?!"

"Just be silent for once! I'm so sick of this!" Everyone watched as Soma turned to leave. He didn't get very far as Shio tried to comfort him.

"Soma! Um... I was alone for a long time." Soma stopped when he heard Shio's voice. "I didn't have anybody at all... So now... Um, is that right? So now..." Shio started to mess up with her words as she tried to explain. "So now, I'm happy. Because I found you, Soma. I'm happy because I found all of you. My friends. And because I... So... So, now, I get to... Um... So now..." Shio started to mess up again. Soma stood there silent to what Shio said to him. Without saying anything, he continued onward, leaving the team behind.

"Hey, Soma, get back here! Come on!" Kota tried to stop him, but it ended up being useless. "Be moodier, Soma, damn."

"Kota... stop it."

"Wait, what's with that look? You know something?" Claire began to explain everything she was on that disk that was related to Soma's past to make him realize why he acts like what acts like today. Kota gaped at the information in amazement.

"Wow... That's just... So I guess that makes him the original God Eater, huh? The basis of all this, of God Arcs and... Wow. And worse, the poor guy thinks he killed his own mother? Just by being born? That's awful... How long has he been carrying that around? How long has he held it in?"

"Yeah, you understand now, right? So why don't you go easy on him a little."

"Yeah, I guess I will."

"Good." Claire walked past Kota and towards Shio who was just sitting on the ledge, staring at the sea. "Come on, Shio. I think it's time to go back."

"Okay."


	11. CH 11: Resonance 2: Claire

**AN: Quick question. Did anyone get a notification for the two chapters I released? Because I sure as hell didn't.**

* * *

Everyone that belonged to the 1st unit walked down the hallway towards Sakaki's lab. They were summoned by him which most likely they're about tp receive a mission or something along those lines. "What do you think Dr. Sakaki wants us for?" Claire asked.

"Who knows," Sakuya said.

"I just hope it's not another mission," Claire said as she stopped in front of the door to Sakaki's lab.

The door opened to Sakaki's lab and they noticed Sakaki standing in front of his equipment with Shio sitting right next to him. "Sorry for summoning you in haste, but you see... I have a problem. And it is well beyond my experience as a man of science. Would you mind helping to... dress Shio?"

"Sorry, once more... You want to dress her?" Sakuya asked somewhat surprised to hear this.

"I've tried endless approaches, each a tragic failure. She does not seem to be privy to my fashion sense."

"No, no, no! No more scratchy and coarse!" Shio shook her head, refusing any clothes she was given.

"As I said. So, lacking other operatives of note, I decided to seek help from the branch' ladies."

"So then why the hell did you summon me?" Soma let out a frustrated sigh. "Damn you, old man." Everyone watched as Soma turned around and left.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be next to useless. My style is unique, and Bugarally was getting good. Peace!" Kota left as quickly as Some did so he could watch his show.

"I wish I had time to watch Bugarally..." Claire said quietly to herself.

"Ugh! Stupid boys. Well, I'll see if I can dress her in something a little less... rags..." Sakuya said as she went to one of the rooms in the back. "Come on, Shio. Let's try some stuff!"

"What are we going to try?" Shio asked curiously as walked over to Sakuya.

"Doctor, we're gonna borrow this back room for a while. We'll find something she likes. Alisa, would you mind helping out?"

"Not at all," Alisa said as she walked over to the two.

"Claire, do you want to help?" Sakuya asked.

"Sorry, I can't. I have some mission I need to do pretty soon." With that Sakuya and Alisa went into the room with Shio right behind them. Before Claire could leave to prepare for her mission Sakaki spoke up.

"I think the most interesting quality is Shio's genetic makeup. So adaptable, so diverse. It might go a long way in securing a bright new future for humanity." They both heard the sounds of struggling and then next the sound of something collapsing coming from the room Sakuya and Alisa are using. Soon after that both Sakuya and Alisa came out of the room coughing from the amount of dust that came flooding out from that room.

"Um... Sh-Shio may have, uh..." Alisa tried to explain, but couldn't exactly figure out what to say so Sakuya said for her.

"Crashed through the wall and fled..."

"Oh, great," Claire said while Sakaki stared at the two for a couple of seconds before speaking up.

"Ah yes, a bright new future indeed." Sakaki turned towards Claire. "I hate to pull you off any pressing missions, but I think it critical that you bring her back safe and... now."

"What? But, I have... Oh, alright." Claire gave up since finding Shio is rather important. "Alisa, go get Kota. You two will be checking the area, with Soma, where we found her. I have a mission in the old city. I'll check there after I complete it. Sakuya, mind tagging along with me?"

"Sure."

"Alright! Let's go find Shio!"

* * *

Sakuya shot down the final Aragami and Claire let out a big sigh. "What's wrong?" Sakuya asked,

"Huh? Oh, nothing. I'm just tired from all the paperwork, and the research I do on Aragami, so I can come up with some good strategies to take them down. I've also been going on a lot of solo missions lately. So It's nice to have a partner to back me up."

"You work too hard. Try to find some time to rest."

"Yeah, you're right. I probably should." Claire said. "Well, let's start looking for Shio."

"Right."

"Let's split up so we can cover more ground. I'll check the church. You go check those buildings over there."

"Okay, be careful," Sakuya said.

"Of course." Shortly after splitting up, Claire arrived at the church. She slowly walked in looking at every corner. She walked into the main hall of the church and she stared at the large hole leading outside.

"This is where Lindow..." Claire shook her head to get those thoughts out of her head. "Shio! Shio! Are you here?" Claire called out. Just like she expected there was nothing. She sighed a little before deciding to call again. "Shio! Come on, Shio! Answer me! Everyone is worried about you!" Again, just like before there was no answer. Claire turned around and started to head outside. "There are buildings to the east. I'll check there before meeting up with Sakuya."

Before she could continue her search, she was radioed by her partner for this mission. "Captain! Claire, come in!"

"Yes, I read you! What's the matter?"

"I've been ambushed by Orgetails! I could use some backup!"

"Alright, I'm on my way!" Claire put away her radio before sprinting to Sakuya. "Geez! What's with these missions and their terrible Intel!"

Upon approaching the sounds of combat, Claire turned the corner and like it was waiting, an Orgetail launched multiple spikes from its tail. Claire narrowly dodged it as she felt a slight pain on her cheek. She quickly killed the Orgetail and continued onward to Sakuya. Once she passed through one of the abandoned buildings. She noticed Sakuya facing four Orgetails holding them off until she got back up.

Sakuya fired a couple of shots on the weak and killed it. Sakuya slowly backed away until her back hit the wall.

Claire readied herself and charged at the Aragami. She hit it with enough force to send it flying into the wall. While Claire distracted the two other Aragami Sakuya took the opportunity to take another one out. With a couple of well-placed shots killed it and only left one Aragami left. With both the efforts of the two, the Aragami died after receiving a few stab wounds and a couple of bullet holes.

"Geez, I wish the Intel was more accurate next time. This is the second time this happened!" Claire said.

"Oh my, what happened to you?"

"What?"

"Did you get hit or something?" Sakuya walked closer to Claire as she stared at the trickle of blood going down her cheek. "Your cheek."

"Huh?" Claire reached up and wiped a small bit of it. She noticed it was her blood she was staring at. "Oh, it must have been that one Orgetail. I got something for it." Claire started to dig around in her pocket. Sakuya reached up to wipe the blood away, but the moment she touched her cheek, a strange sensation washed over her. There was a flash of a memory that didn't belong to her and it was about a child spending time with their parents.

* * *

" _Mom? Where are we going?" A girl asked as they walked down the streets of the Far East._

" _We're going to see some of your father's old friends. They have a daughter, you know? Maybe you can be friends with her."_

" _I would like that."_

" _Alright, let's go."_

" _But... where's dad?"_

" _Don't worry. He said that he'll catch up."_

" _Okay." They both remained quiet as they continued towards there destination. Shortly after the house, they were walking to come into view. But they heard a voice calling them and the mother turned around to see it was her husband running towards them._

" _I see I'm not late." He said as he was slightly out of breath from the running._ " _I've been working so much that I couldn't see them in quite some time-" A loud distance of something crashing into something caught their attention. They could only tell that it was coming from the direction of the wall. Not long after the sounds of an alarm and the sounds of panic filled the air. It quickly dawned on the father what those signs meant. He grabbed his wife's shoulders with panic in his eyes. "It-It's the Aragami!"_

" _N-No! It can't be them!"_

" _You need to take Claire to safety!"_

" _What about you?!"_

" _I need to make sure they get out!" He said before taking off to the house they were about to visit. She very reluctantly took her daughter's hand and ran to safety._

" _M-Mom? What's going on? Where's dad going?"_

" _It-It's okay! Your dad is going to be fine! We need to leave!" Claire watched the house her dad went into and the sounds of screams and roars got louder. She watched as the house shattered into pieces as an Aragami broke straight through it. The people in the house fell into the streets as the Aragami started to eat the people._

" _D-Dad!" Claire reached out as she realized that one of those getting eaten was her father. Her mother pulled her closer to cover her eyes._

" _Don't look! Come on! We need to get out of here!"_

 _Claire watched in horror after her mother moved her hand away. The Aragami eating the dead bodies of her father and other people she didn't really know. The last thing she saw was an Aragami jumping at them before everything went back._

* * *

Sakuya blinked a couple of times before she noticed Claire putting a bandage on her right cheek. Before she could say anything Clare spoke up first and she noticed that she looked rather down.

"So... you loved him, didn't you?"

"Who do you...?"

"I'm talking about... Lindow..."

Sakuya gasped a little since she didn't expect her to say that. "That's..."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up."

"Captain! Come in!" Claire heard Alisa's voice over the radio.

"Yes? What is it?"

"We've found Shio."

"Roger that. Let's return for now." Claire said as they both walked to the extraction zone with nobody saying a word.

 _'I can't believe that happened again. It didn't work last time. I wonder why it worked this time?'_ Claire thought. _'...Mom... Dad... Why is it now that I'm starting to remember them?'_


	12. CH 12: Secret Missions

In her room, Claire was currently sleeping peacefully after a long day slaying Aragami and doing after mission reports for all the recent missions. It had been a few days since they found Shio and had been tasked to find materials for custom clothes for Shio. She'd hoped all her hard work paid off, but all she had to do was wait and see. Claire slowly opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before getting up. Getting out of her sleepwear and into her usual clothes. She reached up and touched the bandage on her cheek. She grabbed the corner of it and ripped it off with a slight sting from the bandage. She lightly touched the area and felt a slight indent. "I should have a mirror somewhere," Claire said as she started to dig around her room looking for a hand mirror. Eventually, she found one and looked at her reflection to see a small scar on her cheek. "Oh, it must have been from that Aragami."

She dropped the mirror on her bed as she heard knocking coming from her door. "I wonder who that could be?" Claire walked over to the door to see who it was. She pushed the button to open the door only to see an irritated Alisa.

"Where were you?"

"I was just resting. Why? Did I miss something?"

"Yes, you have! Licca finished Shio's clothing hours ago!"

"Oh man, really? How did it look? Did Shio like it?"

"It was really cute, actually. She seemed to like it too."

"Oh, really? I'm glad my efforts to get the materials were successful! I didn't think Licca would be good at making clothes. I guess she's good at anything related to Aragami."

"Ah, when did you get that?" Alisa said.

"Get what?"

"This..." Alisa reached up and touched the scar on her cheek.

"Oh, that. It must have been during our... mission. An Aragami tried to sneak attack me as I was rushing to help Sakuya."

"Try to be a little more careful next time."

"I will." Before they could continue, a beeping came from Claire's terminal. "Hang on a sec. You can come in if you like." Claire said.

"Actually, I got to go now." Claire nodded as she made her way over to the terminal and wondered what it could be. She hit a few buttons to see that is was a call from the operator and answered it quickly since it was probably important.

"Claire? I'm sorry to bother you while you were resting, but the Director has arrived and wishes to see you."

"Okay, Hibari. I'll make my way over there."

* * *

 _ **Director's Office**_

Once Claire had arrived at the Director's office, she found him staring at a painting of a shipwreck. She decided to speak up and let him know she was here. "You wished to see me, Director?"

"Ah, yes. I've been hearing much of your accomplishments whilst I traveled through Europe."

"I didn't think I did anything special."

"I am proud to see that you have been living up to my expectations. As Director of the Far East Branch, I extend my gracious thanks. I hope you forgive my lack of formality, but I'm pressed for time, so I'll get right to it. I summoned you here to continue our conversation from before I left. Concerning special missions and tasks. These operations will be varied in nature, their objectives will run the gamut, but they will share one rule. They are to be performed under my direct supervision. You will report to no one but me."

' _He's trusting me to go on such missions? I wonder why I only report to him? I better not speak about this to anyone?'_ Claire thought.

"Needless to say, this applies to any material and rewards you may receive during the mission as well. Each and every one of these missions operates under a strict standard of confidentiality. Due to their sensitive nature, they will be performed most often alone. Only rarely will you require a team."

' _By myself? These missions are obviously going to be harder than standard mission. I hope I can make it through them.'_

"In return for your service, I'll gladly provide you an approximate monetary value of the rare items that you collect and return. I know you. You are a strong and resourceful God Eater, strong enough to accomplish anything you intend to. I would not trust you otherwise. Each mission I ask is a direct mark of my faith. Lindow... he served me well in the same capacity. He was an extraordinary warrior and a good man. Losing him was a devastating blow, not just his allies, but to me as well. But I was fortunate to find you. A God Eater with the potential to be as strong, perhaps stronger, than he."

"Stronger than Lindow?" Claire repeated.

"Yes, I believe you'll accomplish that. I will depend on your assistance and your discretion. Thank you." The Director concluded his meeting and went to his desk while Claire turned to leave. As she left the Director's office, she noticed Soma leaning against the wall.

"Soma?"

"So... He finally summoned you too."

"What do you mean? Oh, wait-" Claire wondered what he meant, but she was interrupted by Soma.

"I'll only say this once. Don't trust him. He pulls string you can't even imagine."

"What do you mean by that?" Before Claire could question him, he stood up and left the hallway. "Why shouldn't I trust the Director? I don't get it..."

Claire arrived at the lobby and she looked around the somewhat active lobby before she went over to Hibari's workplace.

"Claire... I see that you're approved for the special missions. The Director already issued one to you. Just... be careful. Okay?"

"I will," Claire said reassuringly. "Now... what do we have here? An Ouroboros? And it's by myself? This is going to be really tough." Claire decided to really prepare as much as she could before heading out on this mission. So she acquired the appropriate items before heading down to the God Arc storage bay. Once she went in the elevator and hit the button where the God Arc storage by is located. Once the elevator stopped she traveled down the long hallway until she bumped into Alisa.

"Claire? Where are you off to?"

"I'm... off to a mission."

"What sort of mission?"

"Just a standard Aragami extermination mission?" Claire somewhat lied to her as she was serious about the mission she was assigned to. "I'm just about to go see Licca."

"Okay. Just... try to be safe out there." Alisa said as she started to worry yet again.

"I will." With that she watched Alisa continue down the hallway before Claire decided to go to where she was headed by bumping into Alisa. Once she arrived at the God Arc storage bay, she found Licca working a God Arc.

"Licca!" Claire called.

Licca stopped what she was doing and turned towards the voice she smiled once she noticed it was Claire. "Hey, Claire! What do you need?"

"I'm about to head out on a mission, and I would like it if you gave my God Arc once over before I head out."

"Sure! No problem!"

"Also, I'd like it if you can work on this after I come back," Claire said as she pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Licca.

"Yeah, of course. I should be done with your God Arc by the time you leave for your mission."

"Okay, thanks!"

* * *

 _ **Wailing Plains**_

Claire had arrived at the mission area, and it didn't take that long to find the Aragami she was supposed to kill. She could see it from the drop-off point and that only made her nervous. She stared at the extremely large Aragami, it was bigger than she had realized.

"I'm supposed to fight that thing? I can't believe Lindow fought this by himself too." Claire said as she prepared herself for an extremely tough battle.


End file.
